Eastern Oregon University volleyball team huddles around coach McLean Morehead in a match Nov. 20, 2021, against Columbia International University in La Grande during the opening round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The United State Marine Corps and the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced July 18 that more than 1,200 teams have earned the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2021-22 season, one of the teams being Eastern Oregon University volleyball.

“Academic achievement does not happen by accident,” AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer said in a press release. “I’m so proud of the hundreds of coaching staffs that make excellence in the classroom a priority.”

The award 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. EOU volleyball finished the 2021-22 academic year with an overall team GPA of 3.49.

“I am incredibly proud of our team and their resiliency to not only be successful online during the pandemic but also back in the classroom,” Coach McLean Morehead said. “I love that the AVCA honors those teams that are successful in the classroom.”

The Mounties had another successful year both on-and-off the court. The team made the national tournament for the eighth straight year and finished as the No. 16 ranked team in the country. As a team the Mounties had 10 players earn Academic All-Conference honors.