Bowling Green, Ky. - For the fourth straight year, and seventh time since 1999, the Western Kentucky University volleyball team has earned Team Academic Award honors from the America Volleyball Coaches Association.
 "I am extremely proud of our young ladies for their continued success in the classroom," said Lady Topper head coach Travis Hudson. "To be competing at the championship level on the court and combine that with being named an All-American team academically signifies that we truly have a team full of focused student-athletes. They are a group of kids who have enjoyed much success on the court, but will walk away from WKU prepared for the future."
 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.
 A record of 450 teams, and 94 from the NCAA Division I ranks, earned the award. WKU was also one of five Sun Belt Conference schools on the list, joined by UALR, Denver, South Alabama and Troy. WKU and Denver are the only schools in the league to receive the award each of the last four years.
 On the court, the Lady Toppers recorded their tenth-straight 20-win season in 2009, finishing with a 25-9 record and a 13-4 league mark. WKU will begin preseason practice on Aug. 9 in preparation for the 2010 season that kicks off Aug. 27 at Purdue.
- WKU -
