PEORIA, Ill. -- For the ninth time in the last 10 years, the Bradley volleyball team has earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, according to a recent announcement by the AVCA.  The Braves are one of nine Missouri Valley Conference teams and part of a record 134 NCAA Division I squads to earn the honor.

Fourteen of 15 team members posted a 3.0 grade point average in at least one semester with 10 individuals earning a spot on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll both semesters of the 2013-14 school year.  In fact, five different volleyball student-athletes boasted a perfect 4.00 semester GPA at least once during the 2013-14 academic year and the team owned a 3.46 grade point average last year.

The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors teams which displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA.

Bradley is one of 12 NCAA Division I schools to earn AVCA Team Academic Honors at least nine times in the last 10 years.  Five of the 12 schools to earn nine or more AVCA Team Academic Awards in the last 10 years are MVC members. 

The Braves open the 2014 season Friday, Aug. 29 against Hampton at the DePaul Invitational with a 4:30 p.m. match in Chicago, Ill.