LEXINGTON, Ky. - The United State Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today that more than 1,332 collegiate and high school volleyball teams have earned the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2022-23 season. This marks an all-time record number of programs honored for their academic achievements. The Wofford College volleyball program was named amongst the recipients of the honor for maintaining academic excellence during the 2022-23 academic year.
 
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. The Terriers posted a 3.5 team GPA.
 
"The commitment our coaches make to help their student-athletes pursue the best versions of themselves is evident in the academic accomplishments highlighted today," said AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. "Achievement on the court has always been closely tied to success in the classroom which is reflected by the number of championship programs honored."
 
Highlighting Wofford's academic accomplishments, nine Terriers were honored on the 2022 Fall Academic All-Southern Conference Team, which recognizes student-athletes who carry at least a 3.3 cumulative GPA at the conclusion of the fall semester while having competed in at least one-half of their teams' competitions. The student-athletes must also have successfully completed at least three semesters at their institutions, making true freshmen and first-year transfers ineligible for inclusion. The Wofford honorees were Sarah Barham, Kaitlyn Brown, Emily Hodsdon, Millie Loehr, Mary Emily Morgan, Chasidy Sharpe, Kennedy Smith, Emory Wyatt and Bella Zeman. Smith highlighted her selection by maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall term.
 
Additionally, 18 Terriers were named to the 2022-23 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll, which consists of student-athletes who participated in varsity sports and posted a 3.0 GPA or higher, were eligible the entire academic year and were members of the final squad lists. These Terriers were among the Wofford-record 285 Terriers represented across all sports. All nine of the all-academic honorees were selected to the honor roll, with Alexa Bertsch, Addison Foote, Sarah MacLean, Caroline Przystup, Annemarie Rakoski, Abbey Richman, Elise Schneider, Mad Wilson and Meghan Yaffa also being recognized.
 
Five Terriers – Brown, Morgan, Smith, Wyatt and Yaffa – earned the Commissioner's Medal, which is awarded to student-athletes who attain a GPA of 3.8 or higher throughout the year. Smith and Yaffa claimed it in style with both maintaining perfect 4.0 GPAs.
 
These academic successes combine with on-court successes in 2022. Wofford posted its third-straight season with a winning record last year at 16-13, adding an 8-8 SoCon clip. The Terriers were victorious in two of their non-conference tournaments, the College of Charleston Classic and their own Terrier Invite, marking the first time since 2017 in which Wofford won two non-conference tournaments. With a seven-game winning streak from Sept. 3-17, Wofford tallied its longest such streak since the 2009 campaign, which featured a 12-game run.
 
Wofford returns to the court when the 2023 season begins in late August. The Terriers open play in Clemson, S.C. on Aug. 26 with a battle against Middle Tennessee State, the first of two matches in the Big Orange Bash.