May 20, 2015 Official NCAA announcement

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis women's volleyball and water polo teams have each received NCAA Public Recognition Awards for having Academic Progress Rates that rank them among the best in their sports, it was announced by the organization on Wednesday.

The NCAA presents Public Recognition Awards on an annual basis to teams whose APRs are among the top 10 percent of all teams in their respective sports. Comprised of both student-athlete retention and eligibility, APR calculations help measure classroom performance of all student-athletes.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship.

"We're very proud of women's volleyball and women's water polo receiving such prestigious distinction," said Teresa Gould, interim director of athletics. "It's great to showcase excellence in competition and it's even better to do it in the classroom."

Both Aggie teams recognized Wednesday are being honored for the first time. In all, UC Davis has received 17 public recognition honors covering six different sports since the NCAA started presenting the honors in 2007. It's had at least two teams honored in seven years.

"We congratulate each of the teams and individual student-athletes for their dedication to academic success," said NCAA President Mark Emmert in the NCAA's official announcement. "This achievement demonstrates their hard work and the commitment of NCAA member schools to provide students with an opportunity to succeed academically and athletically."

A record 1,124 teams from 289 schools were honored by the NCAA in Wednesday's announcement; 696 women's teams and 428 men's. Scores in the top 10 ranged from 980 to a perfect 1,000, depending on the sport.

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