COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2011 Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team received 2011-12 All-Academic Team honors this week from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

NJCAA officials announced the honorees Monday, June 25, from their headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.  To receive All-Academic Team honors, team members must have achieved a team cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.  The Grizzlies had a GPA of 3.3.

“I am proud of this year’s team members, their commitment to academics and the importance it plays in their journey as student athletes,” Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said.  “This is our fifth year in a row our players have achieved the team academic honor and the ninth award they’ve received in the past 10 years.  This is a testament to the dedication of the players, the instructors who work with them, officials in the Student Advisement & Academic Support (SAAS) Center, and the staff and tutors of the PAWS (Promoting Academic Success With Student-Athletes) Program.  It’s a team effort and should be shared by all.”

Implemented in spring 2002, Missouri State-West Plains’ PAWS Program consists of a group of students, faculty and staff who are dedicated to helping student-athletes develop the skills they need to excel in the classroom and provides additional assistance to student-athletes during study hall periods.

NJCAA officials said over 450 teams qualified for academic team accolades this past year.  Nearly 60,000 student-athletes competed on over 3,500 teams in 28 different sports at the NJCAA level in 2011-2012.  This is the 29th year NJCAA officials have recognized the success of its student-athletes in the classroom.

For more information about awards and honors handed out by the NJCAA, visit www.njcaa.org.  For more information about the Missouri State-West Plains Grizzly Athletics program, visit http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/.

Filed Under: Volleyball