By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Both the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball and beach volleyball programs were rewarded for their success in the classroom today with United States Marine Corps/American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Awards for the 2022-23 school year.
The Skyhawk volleyball team picked up their ninth all-time AVCA Team Academic Award (third under head coach Jaclynn Wilson) and was one of eight Ohio Valley Conference teams to make the prestigious list. UT Martin’s beach volleyball team earned its first AVCA Team Academic Award as one of five OVC programs spotlighted today.
Initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, the AVCA Team Academic Award honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long Grade Point Average of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale. The Skyhawks eclipsed that feat twice as the volleyball program sported a 3.33 GPA while the beach volleyball squad boasted a 3.44 GPA for the 2022-23 school year.
The trio of Dylan Mott (volleyball/beach volleyball), Lucy Kaufman (beach volleyball) and Brooke Kuball (beach volleyball) was each responsible for a perfect 4.0 GPA for the 2022-23 campaign. Mary Leslie Cranford (volleyball/beach volleyball) posted a 4.0 GPA during the fall semester while Zoe Merriweather (volleyball) additionally held down a 4.0 GPA in the spring term.
In addition to Mott, Kaufman and Kuball’s 4.0 GPA, Merriweather (3.88), Kambree Lucas (3.76), Cranford (3.75), Logan Wallick (3.67), Ryan Rednour (3.61) and Haeleigh Paulino (3.61) each generated GPA’s above 3.5 for the 2022-23 academic season.
The volleyball and beach volleyball programs combined for 19 UT Martin Athletic Director’s Honor Roll recipients during the fall semester and landed 19 more mentions on the same list in the spring. Each student-athlete must achieve at least a 3.0 GPA to earn that title.
These awards officially cap off a dominant 2022-23 campaign for these two programs. Behind a school-record 15 league wins, the Skyhawk volleyball team nabbed their first OVC regular season championship in 20 seasons and won the program’s first-ever postseason match as a NCAA Division I member. The UT Martin beach volleyball team followed that by sweeping the OVC regular season and tournament titles for the second straight year, winning a conference-record 27 matches and completing the league’s first-ever undefeated season (10-0).
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information