Volleyball honored with 2023 USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award

The Muskingum volleyball team was recognized for its success in the classroom by being honored with the United States Marine Corps (USMC)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2022-23 season.

Under the guidance of Head Coach Hallie Cruzen, Muskingum registered a 3.51 GPA as a team. This marks the 10th time that Muskingum has received the award. Muskingum also had five student-athletes named to the All-Ohio Athletic Conference Honor Roll and four named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, including senior Emma Conrad, who was named First Team Academic All-American.

"I am extremely proud of our hard-working women. Their consistent dedication to academics does not go unnoticed," said Cruzen. "During our season, we had an Academic All-American, Emma Conrad. Our student-athletes go above and beyond in the classroom, and it takes extraordinary people to be able to do so while being a college athlete."

On the court, Muskingum received votes in the national Top 25 poll and registered an 18-win season. The Muskies qualified for the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament and advanced to the OAC Tournament Final Four for the fifth straight season.

The USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams (men/women, boys/girls, indoor/ beach) 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.