AVCA 2016-17 Team Academic Award

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - One week after having seven of its Rebel student-athletes named to the 2016-17 Mountain West Scholar-Athlete Award, UNLV Volleyball was one of 145 NCAA Division I programs to receive the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) 2016-17 Team Academic Award. This marks the third consecutive year that the Rebels have earned the academic award, and it's the fourth overall bestowed upon the program since 2007-08.

The AVCA Team Academic Award, which was first handed out following the conclusion of the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative GPA on a 5.0 scale.

Since its inception, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 822 -- a record-setting figure. Girls high school led all divisions of recipients with 277 with NCAA Division III (150), NCAA Division I (145) and NCAA Division II (119).

The Rebels begin the 2017 campaign at home with the UNLV Invitational on August 25-26, with matches against Binghamton, UC Davis and Eastern Washington. In all, the squad will play a total of 31 regular-season matches this season, 16 of which will take place in the Cox Pavilion. The fall slate will feature 18 contests against Mountain West foes as well as 13 more versus nonconference competition.

UNLV, which returns starters Elsa Descamps and Ashley Owens, is coming off a season that concluded in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and received votes in the final top-25 poll after the team won the program's first postseason match -- a 3-1 victory over then-No. 22 Utah. The squad went 24-8 overall and finished third in the MW with a 12-6 mark.