LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association announced its 2026 Team Academic Awards on Thursday, with Seattle Pacific making the grade to earn recognition from the organization.
The Falcons were among 1,432 teams to earn the award across all levels of collegiate and high school volleyball. Teams must maintain a year-long grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.
This is the second season the AVCA has named a Team Academic Champion for each collegiate division. The 20 programs are being named to this exclusive list based on having the highest GPAs in their respective divisions. The AVCA also celebrates programs in the top 20 percent for their division by recognizing them with the Team Academic Honor Roll distinction.
The Team Academic Honor Roll was earned by 10 teams that also won national collegiate championships on the court and in the sand during the 2025–26 season. There are also four schools whose women's, men's, and beach teams are all being honored: Barry University, Pepperdine University, Stanford University, and University of Hawaii. This season, two divisions—Women's Collegiate Beach and Two-Year College—set records for total recipients, reaching 43 and 75 participants, respectively.
A relatively young group took the court for the Falcons during the 2025 season, with no seniors on the roster. SPU placed four players on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic team last October.
Sophia Chambers,
Amaya Evans,
Brooke Williams, and
Makayla Hickman earned recognition from the conference. Chambers was the only two-time selection on the list.
Last December, College Sports Communicators announced its Academic All-District Team. Evans, Williams, and Hickman represented the Falcons' GPAs of 3.5 or better while playing in enough matches to qualify for recognition.
The Falcons turn the page to the 2026 season in August. They open the season at the Coyote Classic Aug. 27-29, followed by the Hawaii Challenge Sept. 3-5.
SPU SOCIAL
Seattle's only NCAA Division II Scholarship Program | #GoFalcons
