List of 2017-18 AVCA Team Academic Award Recipients

OMAHA, Neb. -- The 2017-18 Creighton University volleyball team has been honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a recipient of the AVCA Team Academic Award. This is Creighton's 12th award in the last 15 seasons and 14th overall, as the Bluejays previously were honored in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2017.

The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA. There were 164 Division I schools qualified for the honor in 2017-18, including eight teams in the BIG EAST Conference.

Last year Jaali Winters was named Creighton's Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the second straight (Lauren Smith) volleyball player honored by CU. The Bluejay volleyball team had a GPA of 3.553 last fall and a 3.576 this spring, and owns a 3.555 cumulative GPA. Twelve different women were named to Creighton's Dean's List (3.50 GPA or better) at least one semester during the 2017-18 academic year, and three women owned a perfect 4.00 GPA in the spring.

Creighton returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last season's team that went 26-7 and was the No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the BIG EAST Conference regular-season and tournament titles. Top returnees include All-East Region selections Taryn Kloth, Jaali Winters and Brittany Witt.

The Bluejays will report to campus on August 7th and open the regular-season on Aug. 24 with matches against Kentucky and Northern Iowa at the Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif. Creighton's regular-season home opener will be September 6 when it welcomes Nebraska to CHI Health Center Omaha.