LEXINGTON, Ky. – The South Dakota volleyball team received the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2020-21 season. South Dakota is one of a record 243 Division I schools to make the list and one of 1,275 total teams to be honored.
 
The award honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale and a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
 
"I am once again very proud of this team for making their academics a priority!" coach Leanne Williamson said. "They are a great example of what it means to be a student-athlete. During a year that had so much uncertainty, including playing our season in the spring, they persevered and had an amazing year in academics!
 
The Coyotes sported a 3.67 team GPA during the spring semester and the squad has a current cumulative GPA of 3.70 through the 2020-21 school year.