LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Santa Clara University beach volleyball team earned a Team Academic Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association Thursday for the seventh consecutive year, putting a bow on a successful 2025-26 year both on the sand and in the classroom.
 
The Broncos boasted a 3.572 cumulative Grade Point Average through the 2025-26 spring quarter, the highest in the SCU athletics department. All 19 Broncos on the roster carried a cumulative GPA above 3.000, with 12 above 3.500. The team had seven earn West Coast Conference All-Academic honors in the spring and had two named Academic All-District by College Sports Communicators.
 
Santa Clara was one of 1,432 collegiate and high school volleyball teams across the country who earned the 2026 AVCA Team Academic Award Thursday. Teams receive the award by maintaining a year-long grade-point average of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (or 4.1 on a 5.0 scale).
 
"It comes as no surprise to see our sport have more than 1,400 teams earn the AVCA Team Academic Award again this season," said AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. "We are grateful for the dedication of the coaches and players who make both classroom and on-court success the lifeblood of their programs."
 
On the sand in 2026, the Broncos set a program record with 23 wins and made a run to the WCC Tournament championship match for the second year in a row. The team went 23-17, collected five all-WCC awards and had four different student-athletes win at least 20 matches.