LEXINGTON, Ky. --- The American Volleyball Coaches Association released a record 684 colleges, including Moravian College, and high school volleyball teams that have earned the 2013-14 AVCA Team Academic Award.

The award, which began in 1992-93, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average during the 2013-14 school year and passed last year's mark of 622 schools honored in 2012-13. Nominating coaches must be AVCA members.

Recipients of the award range from NCAA Division I institutions to high school girls' and boys' teams. NCAA Division I recorded their highest-ever total number of recipients, honoring 136 programs while NCAA Division II also set a new record by reaching a total of 95 honorees. NCAA Division III continues to set new records after 129 schools take home the honor with the Two-Year College category also surpassing their previous high of 16 with 23.

Moravian, under the direction of 22-year head coach Shelley Bauder, earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the eighth time since the award was started. The Greyhounds and fellow Landmark Conference schools Susquehanna University and The University of Scranton received the honor.

"It's very rewarding and exciting to earn this award again," Bauder said. "Our players understand how crucial it is in preparing for future careers to be very diligent in the classroom. I'm extremely proud of the team and their accomplishment."

Coach Bauder and the Greyhounds will begin their 2014 season on Friday, August 29 when they host the 12th Annual Greyhound Premiere Invitational, a two-day, nine-team tournament in Johnston Hall and Timothy Breidegam Fieldhouse.

To view the entire 2013-14 AVCA Team Academic Award recipients, visit http://www.avca.org/awards/team-academic-award/13-14-recipients/.