June 20, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. - WASHINGTON, D.C. - For the Georgetown University volleyball team, mixing athletic and academic success has been a case study in effective time management. From taking schoolwork on bus rides to away games, to opening books while awaiting team flights on airport floors or during post-practice study sessions at the Leavey Center, the team willed their way to a 3.348 cumulative team grade-point average, calculated following the 2007-08 academic year.
The grade point average, the highest during head coach Arlisa Williams' tenure, is made even more impressive by a team that missed eight Friday's and four Tuesday's due to athletic competition during the fall semester.
For their hard work the team has been nominated for the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award, an honor not taken lightly from their coach.
"Excellent results can only be achieved with a strong work ethic," Williams said. "Student-athletes recruited to the Georgetown University Volleyball Program will have the work ethic, competitiveness and energy to excel in the classroom, on the court and in the University and local community. Each of our student-athletes has bought into this philosophy and has effectively learned to balance academics and athletics."
Williams has implemented four meetings per semester to discuss academic progress, as a way of keeping updated with her students' class work and making sure if problems arise they can be quickly corrected.
"We'll meet at the beginning of each semester individually to discuss each player's role on the team and what we expect," Williams said. "We'll have individual meetings again after five weeks to make sure players are taking advantage of all of the available resources and again at 10 weeks after mid-terms to see where we are and prevent any surprises. We have a wrap-up meeting at the end of the semester."
Though with the collection of student-athletes on the team Williams has had experienced few surprises through her first two seasons on the Hilltop.
"I think we are all very self motivated student-athletes," rising senior captain Caitlin Boland said. "The members of our team all value academic success and drive themselves to excel in both the classroom and the gym."
[The dedication to academics has left a good impression on not only the coaching staff, but the academic support staff at Georgetown.]
"The women's volleyball team includes some of the highest achievers among our student-athlete populations," Dr. Shelly Habel the Associate Director of the Academic Resource Center for Student-Athlete Services said. "The team is small, very supportive and proactive; problems don't arise because challenges are discussed and addressed early. The team sets a high standard and it consistently exceeds those expectations."
