LEXINGTON, Ky.  – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) has announced the South Dakota Mines women's volleyball program has earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2019 season, marking the 11^th consecutive year the SDM volleyball program has received this honor.

The Hardrockers were among 1,315 teams to earn the high honor, topping last year's record by almost 200 teams.

 This past school year, the SD Mines women's volleyball team posted a team GPA of 3.561.

"It is a testament to our team's work ethic and commitment to being scholar-athletes that they have been once again honored with the AVCA Team Academic Award," said Hardrocker women's volleyball head coach Lauren Torvi Prochazka. "These women are dedicated to their academic success, and I'm so proud that this extremely young team has been able to succeed in the classroom the way they have."
 
The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.30 on a 4.0 scale or 4.10 on a 5.0 scale.