LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 23, 2026) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its Team Academic Award recipients on Thursday, with the University of North Alabama receiving the award for a fourth-straight year.  

Commencing in the 1992-93 academic year, this award honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale. This marks the Lions' fourth-straight year to earn this award and fifth overall — the first coming in 2020. 

The Lions received the award once before Johnson's hire, which came in 2020. Since he has been at UNA, his team has earned this award in all four of his seasons.  

The Lions will host Arkansas State for an exhibition on August 18 and Belmont on August 22. The first match is set for August 28 against Alabama State at the Troy Invitational. The first home match will be September 2 against Alabama A&M.