Tiffin, Ohio – August 17, 2011 – Heidelberg University’s volleyball team has received the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for their excellence in the classroom. The award honors those teams at the collegiate and high school levels who have maintained at least a 3.30 team GPA on a 4.0 scale throughout their season.
This year, the AVCA awarded a record-breaking number of 481 schools. Five other Ohio Athletic Conference schools, including Baldwin-Wallace College, Muskingum University, Ohio Northern University, Otterbein University and University of Mount Union – joined Heidelberg in receiving the award.
Heidelberg finished strong on the court and in the classroom last season, leading the league in Academic All-OAC honors. A two-year recipient was Brittany Donelan and first-time winner Suzy Street, both 2011 Heidelberg graduates. Jackie Reinhart (New Riegel, Ohio / New Riegel), Venessa Haase (Miamisburg, Ohio / Miamisburg) and Jacki Street (Grafton, Ohio / Midview) rounded out the list. Donelan also achieved a prestigious honor in becoming the second recipient of the ESPN Academic All-American First Team.
Under the guidance of 12th-year head coach Jason Miller, Heidelberg opens its 2011 season Sept. 2 at the Ohio Northern Invitational. The Berg will look to repeat as OAC regular season and tournament champions, and a return trip to regionals. In 2010, the team set a single-season record with 33 wins.