The American Volleyball Coaches Association recognized a record 353 teams with its AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2007-08 season, including 174 NCAA squads. The previous high was 308 schools honored last year.

The award honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year with at least a 3.30 team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale (or a 4.1 GPA on a 5.0 scale).

Teams in all three NCAA divisions broke previous records, with 70 Division I teams, 39 Division II teams and 62 Division III teams earning the award.

AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer called the results phenomenal. “Look at this in context,” she said. “We have coaches representing about 3,000 academic institutions. Of that total, 353, or nearly 12 percent, coach teams with a grade-point average of 3.3 or better. How can you not be proud of that?”

More than 900 schools have earned the award in the past 16 years, including high schools, two-year colleges and NAIA institutions. For a complete list of winners, click here.

Breakdown of award recipients

Division I Women       70

Division II Women     39

Division III Women    62

National Col. Men      3