LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Southern Mississippi’s beach volleyball team received the 2026 AVCA Team Academic Award, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced Thursday. The award recognizes programs with a minimum 3.3 GPA on a 4.0 scale during the academic year.
This marks the fifth time Southern Miss has received the honor and the fourth time in the past five seasons. The Golden Eagles are one of five Sun Belt Conference programs to earn the award and are among 40 collegiate beach programs nationwide on the 2026 list.
Southern Miss maintained a team GPA of 3.69 during the 2025-26 academic year. Seventeen student-athletes held a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0, with three achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA and 11 maintaining at least a 3.50.
The Golden Eagles previously earned back-to-back Team Academic Awards in 2021-22 and 2022-23, making this their second consecutive recognition in such a sequence. The team’s consistent academic excellence highlights the program’s emphasis on student success alongside athletic achievement, according to the university.
The AVCA’s mission is to advance the sport of volleyball through leadership, advocacy, and professional development for coaches across all levels. The association’s membership exceeds 10,000 coaches nationwide, spanning collegiate, professional, high school, club, and youth volleyball.
