Arkansas Tech University volleyball has earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the third time in the last four years.
The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
Along with the AVCA Team Academic Award, eight Golden Suns earned a spot on the Great American Conference All-Academic Team for fall 2017.
The 2017 ATU volleyball team established new program records for longest winning streak (35 matches), best start to a season (35-0) and highest winning percentage in a season (.972).
The Golden Suns finished 35-1 overall. They won the Great American Conference regular season championship, the GAC Tournament championship, attained the highest national ranking (No. 8) in the history of ATU volleyball and made the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the history of the program.
Kera Dukic will make her debut at the Golden Suns’ head volleyball coach in 2018. She succeeds Kristy Bayer, who stepped down after 14 seasons to accept an athletic administration position at Emporia State University (Kan.).
Arkansas Tech will open the 2018 season in Warrensburg, Mo., at the Peggy Martin Challenge. Tech will face tournament host University of Central Missouri at 1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 24, in its first match of the Dukic era.
