La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2009-10 season. It marks the 10th consecutive year the Eagles have earned the academic award. UW-L compiled a 3.48 team grade point average.

Members of the 2009 squad included senior Brianne Stankus; juniors Kate Malterer and Melannie Tate; sophomores Kasey Corcoran, Katie Gunderson, Caitlin Jahnke, Liz Schlobohm, Melany VandenLangenberg and Kelsey Witt; and freshman Amber Eide, Amanda Hardy, Katie Kaufman, Kate Kleiva and Jennifer Stutz.

Sheila Perkins completed her 16th season at the helm of the Eagles in 2009.

The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.

Seventy-five schools from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III earned the team award, including UW-L and UW-Stout from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The team academic award is presented in all levels of college and high schools from around the country.

UW-L opens its 2010 season Friday, September 3 hosting a Labor Day Invitational.