PROVO -- Junior libero Brian Rowley of the BYU men's volleyball team was named to the 2005 Academic All-District VIII University Division Men's At-Large Team. CoSIDA members from the District VIII states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai'i, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington, and the province of British Columbia, selected the team.
Rowley, who recently completed his undergraduate degree in civil engineering with a 3.85 cumulative GPA, started all 30 matches and played in 109 of 111 games for the Cougars. He led the team in digs with 206, the second-highest mark since 2001 when rally scoring was implemented.
Not only was Rowley solid on defense, he was one of the top passers in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, averaging just .87 return errors per game, second best among all liberos in the league. His academic excellence was recognized in March when he was named the Civil and Environmental Engineering Co-Outstanding Graduate.
The All-District VIII Team comprised 10 student athletes from nine schools. Athletes that participated in golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, fencing, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling were eligible for nomination.
The first-team selections from each district across the country advance to the national ballot to be considered for the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Team, which will be announced June 14.