VOLLEYBALL: Goldsboro, North Duplin earn NCVBCA accolade

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on July 22, 2018 3:08 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

Goldsboro High and North Duplin exemplified the true meaning of "student-athlete" during its respective volleyball campaigns in 2017.

Each team excelled on the court.

More importantly, each team shined in the classroom.

Their efforts certainly didn't go unseen by the North Carolina Volleyball Coaches Association (NCVBCA). The Cougars and Rebels each received the inaugural NCVBCA Team Academic Award, which was presented to 32 high schools statewide.

"It's a great honor to be recognized by the AVCA [American Volleyball Coaches Association] and the NCVBCA for our academic achievements," GHS head coach TJ Lancaster said. "I'm very proud of the hard work that the ladies put into their academic studies. Our program stresses academic achievement and the ladies understand that they must meet our high standards to be part of the program.

"Our goal this coming up year is to better our team GPA from this past year."

Goldsboro filed a 3.38 team GPA.

Lancaster is expected to return his entire squad from last year, an underclassmen-rich group that collected nine wins and battled in the highly-competitive East Central 2-A Conference.

North Duplin compiled a team GPA of 3.55.

Nine of the 10 eligible team members are in the school's academic honor society, the BETA Club. Nine of the 12 team members are in the top 12 of their respective classes and all have been recognized on the honor roll.

"Our student-athletes work hard in and out of the classroom to be the best they can be," ND head coach Laura Thornton said. "Not only do our student-athletes attend classes and participate in workouts, but they also participate in tutoring programs to excel in the classroom."

The Rebels recorded 10 wins a year ago.

Goldsboro and North Duplin have also been honored at the national level with the AVCA Team Academic Award.

Initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, the AVCA Team Academic Award honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that maintained at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale, or a 4.1 team GPA on a 5.0 scale.

A record 973 teams, high school and college combined, received the award this season.