LEXINGTON, KY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team is back on a streak of earning recognition from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as the Saxons made the 2024 AVCA Team Academic Award sponsored by INTENT list.
 
It is now the second year in a row of earning AVCA All-Academic for Alfred University, having maintained a year-long GPA of 3.30 or higher. This past year, there was a record number of programs that joined Alfred University in the listings, with more than 1,400 collegiate and high school volleyball teams across the country.
 
"This year had been amazing for our team! One last award to top off a year for the record books," Head Coach Mike Honeycutt said. "They finished with the highest overall GPA for the 2023-24 school year that the program has seen in recent memory. This goes to show that you can be just as successful in the classroom as you are on the court. But it takes discipline, heart and hard work. These young women are amazing in so many ways and it is an honor to be their coach."
 
There were seven Saxons who earned Empire 8 President's List (3.75 term GPA or higher) in the Fall semester while eight earned it in the Spring semester. Those individuals are:
-Jamie Chun (Hilo, HI/Hilo) – Fall & Spring
-Madeline Stein (Surprise, AZ/Willow Canyon) – Fall & Spring
-Delaney Sims (Bogart, GA/George Walton Academy) – Fall & Spring
-AJ Anderson (Covington, WA/Kentwood) – Fall
-Cara Bratthauar (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg Area) – Fall & Spring
-Anjoeline Armstrong (Simi Valley, CA/Bishop Alemany) – Fall
-Madalynn McGowan (Corona, CA/Norco) – Fall & Spring
-Taylor Malone (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) – Spring
-Kristin Finley (Kenyon, MN/Keyon-Wanamingo) – Spring
-Casey Grange (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) – Spring
 
Another four Saxons earned Dean's List (3.50 or higher) in the Fall and again in the Spring. Those volleyball student-athletes were:
-Finley (Fall)
-Darian Ortiz (Santa Fe, NM/St. Michael's) – Fall & Spring
-Jade K. Wolfer (Nunda, NY/Keshequa) – Fall & Spring
-Shelby Baker (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo Central) – Fall
-Anderson – Spring
-Armstrong – Spring
 
Finally, there were a total of four Saxons that made the Saxon Scholar (3.20 or higher) academic list. Those are:
-Lay Evans (Erie, PA/Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy) – Fall
-Corinne Ferguson (Chesapeake, OH/Chesapeake) – Fall
-Fiona McNeil (Fayetteville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) – Spring
-Jessica Lucille Ramirez (Riverside, CA/Hillcrest) – Spring
 
The final award for the 2023-24 academic year is an end-cap on a historic season for the Saxons. There has never been a No. 5 seed team in the history of the Empire 8 women's volleyball tournament, that has gone on to win the tournament title. In the three matches the Saxons played in, they only gave up two sets, starting with a 3-0 win over No. 4 Nazareth University. AU ended a 48-conference-match win streak by upending the No. 1 seeded and four-time, defending Empire 8 Champions, St. John Fisher University with a 3-1 win. The Saxons punched their ticket to the NCAA Championship Tournament with another 3-1 win at the No. 3 seeded Wolves of Keuka College, earning the program's first ever Empire 8 Championship Tournament title. AU finished 5-3 in Empire 8 play during the regular season and all three losses were avenged in the tournament, having lost to Fisher, 3-1, Naz, 3-0 and Keuka, 3-2. It was only the second time in Alfred University history that the Saxons have made it to the NCAA Tournament, following the successful 1999 team.