PROVO -- Four student-athletes from the BYU men's volleyball team were named to the 2005 Academic All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team Monday.
Michael Burke, Brian Rowley, Rob Neilson and Ivan Perez earned spots on the team for maintaining a cumulative GPA over 3.0, having completed at least one full academic year at BYU and participating in 50 percent or more of the team's matches.
For Burke, a senior middle blocker from Salt Lake City, it is the third consecutive year he has been named to the team. During the 2005 season, he led the Cougars with a .460 hitting percentage and a 1.35 blocks-per-game average. His dominant play in the middle earned him second-team All-MPSF and All-America honors. The National Strength and Conditioning Association also named Burke an All-American.
Neilson, a junior setter from Pacific Palisades, Calif., is also a repeat honoree, being named to the team in 2004 as a backup setter. In 2005, he started every match and played in every game, setting BYU to a .312 hitting percentage while finishing second on the team in blocks at 0.88 per game. He also averaged 13.22 assists per game. Neilson was also named All-MPSF Honorable Mention and the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II National Player of the Week for his play against the University of Hawai'i, March 18 and 19.
A first time honoree, junior libero Rowley is no stranger to academic honors. The San Diego native was named to the 2005 CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII University Division Men's At-Large Team and is a finalist for the All-America team that will be named June 14. Rowley was also named the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Co-Outstanding Graduate. As the starting libero, he averaged a team-high 1.89 digs per game and had the second lowest reception errors-per-match average in the MPSF at 0.87.
Perez, an outside hitter from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico rounds out the list of Cougars honored by the MPSF. The redshirt freshman enjoyed the most decorated season by a first-year BYU player. He led the team with a 3.78 kills-per-game average and set a BYU freshman record with 382 kills. His .331 hitting percentage is the highest by any freshman outside hitter in school history. Along with his impressive numbers, Perez earned the highest accolades of any freshman in the history of Cougar men's volleyball, being named to All-MPSF and All-America second teams. He was also named the player of the week by the MPSF for his play against Hawai'i, March 18 and 19.
Perez, Neilson and Rowley will all be returning in 2006.