Stevens Volleyball Receives President's Cup Award at 2007 Convocation Ceremony
September 6, 2007
From Stevens Institute of Technology Sports Information Release
HOBOKEN, N.J. – On Wednesday, the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s volleyball team was presented with the President’s Cup during the 137th annual Convocation ceremony at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. The President’s Cup, which was first awarded in the fall of 2006 to the women’s soccer program, is given annually to the team that best exemplifies athletic accomplishment, academic performance, sportsmanship and citizenship.
“We are very happy to be recognized for putting balance into academics, community service and strong athletic competition,” Head Coach J.J. O’Connell (Ithaca, N.Y.) said. “It is definitely an honor to receive this award because a lot of the teams here at Stevens are setting the bar pretty high.”
During the 2006 season, the women’s volleyball team posted an overall record of 34-6 and set a new school record for wins in a season, which was the fourth straight year that the team accomplished this feat. Along the way, the Ducks captured their third-straight Skyline Conference title and ran their consecutive win streak against conference opponents to 31 straight matches. The No. 2 seed for the NCAA New York Region Championship, Stevens captured its first-ever regional title and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. At year’s end, the Ducks were ranked fifth nationally out of 395 schools that sponsor women’s volleyball in Division III. Stevens was also No. 21 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association final national poll.
As a team, the Ducks posted a 3.25 grade-point average and participated in several community service projects in 2006-07. The team held a clinic for Rahway High School, ran a clinic at Pier A in Hoboken and participated in the National Girls and Women in Sports Day clinic. The Ducks also read books to an elementary school in Roanoke, Va., as part of the Elite Eight Community Service Project.
So far in 2007, Stevens is off to a 5-0 start. Ranked No. 23 in the country, the Ducks will be back in action on Saturday as they take on 25th-ranked United States Coast Guard Academy at 3 p.m. in New London, Conn.