Moon Township, Pa. - For the second consecutive season, the Robert Morris University Department of Athletics finished with the second-best grade point average among Northeast Conference institutions. As a whole, RMU athletes posted a 3.420 GPA, finishing just three one-thousandths shy of the mark of 3.423 that Saint Francis U accumulated.

Four RMU programs, including women's basketball, women's soccer, softball and volleyball, picked up Team GPA Awards for the highest grade point average among peers, the most for Robert Morris to do so since the Colonials claimed the Institutional Academic Award in 2013-14.

Institutionally, Robert Morris smashed the old GPA record of 3.239 established by Sacred Heart University during the 2016-17 academic/athletic year, according to NEC Senior Associate Commissioner Ron Ratner.

For volleyball, one of the oldest and most accomplished NCAA Division I programs offered by RMU, the fall season ended on positive notes athletically and academically. Despite fielding a team eight freshmen deep, one of the youngest of his tenure, head coach Dale Starr guided the Colonials to an unprecedented 19th straight winning record in NEC play and 18th NEC Tournament berth in that span.

Meanwhile, their 3.727 team GPA was the highest of the Starr era, as well as the best since it captured back-to-back NEC Team GPA awards in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Thirteen of the team's 15 players finished 2017-18 with an individual GPA of 3.65 or better. Fourteen volleyball scholar-athletes, including seven of those aforementioned rookies, made the NEC Fall Academic Honor Roll, while eight of Starr's Colonials in all made the Commissioner's Honor Roll.

"I am very proud of the work of these young women in the classroom," Starr said. "They showed tremendous dedication and attention to academics this year. With a roster as young as we had, its great to see such success in the classroom. I expect this trend to continue, and am looking forward future successes both on and off the court."

The softball program has won the Team GPA Award eight times since the conference started its award program in the 2006-07 season. Robert Morris posted a 3.598 GPA in 2017-18, claiming the award for the first time since the 2013-14 school year. That season marked the end of a six-year run in which RMU softball players could claim to be the smartest group among the league's softball teams. Fourteen of the 16 players on the 2017-18 roster earned a spot on the NEC Spring Academic Honor Roll, including four on the NEC Commissioner's Honor Roll.

This is the second consecutive season that the RMU women's basketball program has earned a Team GPA Award. It improved upon its mark of 3.728 from 2016-17, which ranked second nationally, by posting a 3.748 GPA during the 2017-18 academic year. A total of 11 Colonials were named to the NEC Winter Academic Honor Roll for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher, while six of those student-athletes collected additional Winter Commissioner's Honor Roll accolades for achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher.

For the second straight season, the RMU women's soccer program has collected a Team GPA Award. Its 3.624 mark was nearly identical to the 2016-17 tally of 3.625, thanks to 17 players claiming NEC Fall Academic Honor Roll plaudits, with 10 student-athletes of that group earning additional Winter Commissioner's Honor Roll recognition.

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