LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team was recently honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2010-11 athletic year.

The Pacers were one of only 57 NCAA Division II teams to acquire the prestigious academic award from the AVCA. USC Aiken was one of four teams in the Peach Belt Conference to claim the award with Armstrong Atlantic State, Francis Marion and Montevallo also claiming the academic accolade.

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.

USC Aiken as a team in the 2010-11 athletic year finished with a 3.495 team GPA. The Pacers had 10 of their 16 student-athletes with a GPA of 3.5 or higher this past year.

USC Aiken graduated only one senior last year after making it all the way to the semifinal round of the 2010 Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The 2010 Pacers finished the regular season with an overall record of 15-16 while wrapping up the regular season fourth in the extremely tough PBC.

The Pacers will open the 2011 season by participating in the first of two regular season tournaments at Armstrong Atlantic State in Savannah, Ga. The Pacers will have four matches in the event that will take place on Friday, Sept. 2 and Saturday, Sept. 3.

2010-11 AVCA Team Academic Award