COLORADO SPRINGS -- The American Volleyball Coaches Association announced that BYU men's volleyball players Michael Burke and Ivan Perez earned second team All-America honors Wednesday. The citations mark the 15th-consecutive season a BYU men's volleyball player has earned All-America status and the fifth-straight year multiple players have been honored.
"It's great to have two players recognized," BYU coach Tom Peterson said. "Anytime we receive honors like this, it's also a team honor because of the system we run, trying to include everyone in what we do. I would like to congratulate our team along with Mike and Ivan."
Burke and Perez are the 19th and 20th BYU players to be honored with All-America citations. A Salt Lake City native, Burke is the Cougars' first Utah born-and-raised All-American. Perez is BYU's fourth All-American from Puerto Rico.
After impressive sophomore and junior seasons, Burke broke through with his first AVCA All-America award in 2005. The honor adds to a long list of awards garnered by Burke, including All-MPSF honors in each of his three seasons and an All-America honor from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
"Mike is very deserving of this award and has been for quite some time," Peterson said. "Last year he probably would've been recognized except for missing too many matches because of injury. He was even affected a little this year by injuries relating to last season so to receive the recognition despite not being to make a full swing at the ball is remarkable. It's quite an honor for all of the Utah players."
Burke led the Cougars with a .460 hitting percentage that ranked 13th nationally and a 1.35 blocks per game average that was 10th best in the country in 2005. He finished his tenure at BYU with the best career-hitting percentage in school history at .470 and as one of the top blockers in Cougar history. His 346 block assists and 388 total blocks rank him fifth in each category while his 42 block solos place him third on the all-time BYU list.
"His experience and leadership as a person and as a player were very critical to our team this year," Peterson said. "He's had some honors academically and athletically despite his injuries and it's a remarkable story to be the first from Utah."
The second-team recognition received by Perez is the highest a Cougar freshman has attained in volleyball. He was a second-team selection in the MPSF, also the highest league honor for a BYU freshman.
"That's quite an honor," Peterson said. "He improved with every match. When we were playing well, it seemed like he was involved as a crucial part of our offense and defense," His emotions took us to greater heights. It's impressive for a freshman to have that kind of responsibility and he handled it very well."
Perez earned his spot in the starting lineup early in the season and he became a critical part of the offense. He finished the season with the most kills by a Cougar freshman at 382 and the highest hitting percentage for a freshman outside hitter at .331. His 3.78 kills per game average led the team and he finished second on the squad averaging 1.49 digs.
"If he keeps working hard he could become one of the best to have played at BYU," Peterson added. "It's an honor to work that hard and earn that recognition for himself and the team."
Perez will be back in 2006 along with Victor Batista, a 2004 All-American, and four other starters as BYU will look to return to the NCAA Final Four.