PEORIA, Ill. -- For the 10th time in the last 11 years, the Bradley volleyball team has earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, according to an announcement by the AVCA Wednesday.  The Braves are one of nine Missouri Valley Conference teams and part of a record 146 NCAA Division I squads to earn the honor.

Eleven of 13 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 2014-15 school year.  In fact, five different volleyball student-athletes boasted a perfect 4.00 semester GPA during the Spring 2015 semester and the team owned a 3.48 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 11 NCAA Division I schools to earn AVCA Team Academic Honors at least 10 times in the last 11 years.  Four of the 11 schools to earn 10 or more AVCA Team Academic Awards in the last 11 years are MVC members with Indiana State, Southern Illinois and Wichita State joining the Braves on the exclusive list.

Bradley will open the 2015 season at the Toledo Rocket Invitational, facing tournament-host Toledo Friday, Aug. 28 at 9 a.m. (CDT) in the season opener.