Kansas Wesleyan Volleyball coach Fred Aubuchon has always stressed academics as a key part of his program profile during his tenure at Kansas Wesleyan. That commitment continues to pay dividends for the Coyotes. KWU recently earned its ninth consecutive American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award. The nine-year streak for KWU is the fifth longest NAIA streak in the country.
KWU’s streak of nine straight is just one more than Graceland (Iowa)’s streak of eight straight. Concordia (Nebraska) leads the NAIA with 20 straight Team Academic Awards, followed by 15 by Hastings (Nebraska) and a pair of 11-year streaks by Carroll (Montana) and Rocky Mountain (Montana).
The streak is also the longest by any institution at any level in the state of Kansas. Kansas State has earned the award eight times in a row and Emporia State and Fort Scott Community College have each received the award seven times consecutively.
“Earning the AVCA and NAIA Team Academic Awards comes from recruiting goal-centered and academically focused young women who believe in the importance of academic achievement and the value of an education,” Aubuchon said. “We put them in an environment that fosters this ideal and our team award is a reflection of each person’s individual efforts. I couldn’t be more proud that we have earned these awards for nine consecutive years.”
Overall, Aubuchon’s personal streak dates back to the 2004 season, marking 15 consecutive seasons that a team coached by Aubuchon has earned the Team Academic Award.
“This academic honor is an illustration of the great culture of the Kansas Wesleyan volleyball program under Fred’s leadership,” said Mike Hermann, vice president and director of athletics. “He leads a model NAIA program that provides an outstanding experience for the student-athletes that participate. The students achieve on the court and in the classroom, as this confirmed by the consistent recognition of the AVCA.”
Nationally at all levels of volleyball, the AVCA announced that 975 teams earned the Team Academic Award, setting a new AVCA record over the 2016-17 previous record of 835. There were 49 NAIA women’s volleyball teams that earned the award.
The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
The AVCA Team Academic Award is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients has increased every single year but two, while amassing a 621-team increase over the span of the last decade. Since the award’s inception in 1993, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 973.
–KWU Athletics–