Greyhounds tennis standout MATT STOPP wins ECAC Division II Robbins Scholar-Athlete Award

September 14, 2007

CENTERVILLE, Mass. --- Former Assumption College men's tennis standout and captain MATT STOPP (Altoona, PA/Altoona) has been named the 2007 male Division II Robbins Scholar-Athlete. He is the second Greyhound to have earned the award as James Newman '05, who excelled at both tennis and golf, is the only two-time male winner in 2004 and 2005.

Sponsored by Robbins Sports Surfaces, the Cincinnati-based sports surfaces company, the awards honor the outstanding academic and athletics achievements of student-athletes representing ECAC schools in Divisions I, II and III.

One male and one female athlete from each division have been selected by their institutions. Three committees comprised of athletics administrators select two award winners in each division to be honored during the ECAC Convention at the Honors Dinner presented by Jostens on Sunday, September 30th. Votes are based on extraordinary achievements in academics, athletics and community service.

Standout basketball player Ashley Wallace of Northeast-10 Conference rival Pace University earned the female award.

Stopp previously was named the 2007 Northeast-10 Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year as selected by the conference Faculty Athletic Representatives (FAR) Council. He was also selected as a member of the CoSIDA/ESPN third-team academic all-America team and earned the 13th NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in Greyhounds history. He was named the winner of the Rev. Armand Desautels, A.A. Memorial Award as the premier male senior student-athlete at the school in May.

"Matt was one of the premier student-athletes in our history," said Ted Paulauskas, Director of Athletics. "A superb student, he was graduated (May 12, 2007) among the leaders in his class, while as a standout tennis player he served as a two-year captain and won over 95 percent of his matches on one of the most dominant teams in the conference. He is also a true gentleman and prototype to what we hope all Assumption College student-athletes will aspire."

Stopp has been a major cog as the men's tennis team has dominated the Northeast-10 Conference increasing its record conference win streak to an amazing 117 consecutive matches. The team posted an amazing 69-8 overall record including an undefeated 43-0 in conference regular-season and 12-0 in conference post-season. And, the team won 52 of its 56 regular-season matches in his career. The team won improved its team record to nine consecutive regular-season and post-season conference championships.

He posted a 61-3 career singles record (fourth best in Hound annals) with the best won-loss percentage (.953) in team history. His doubles record is 66-5 (fifth best in Hound annals) with the second-best won-loss percentage (.930). The Greyhounds competed in their eighth straight N.C.A.A. Division II tournament in early May.

He earned first-team all-conference honors in both singles and doubles in each of his four years. In addition he has earned Northeast-10 Conference all academic team honors in each of the three years of the awards existence along with Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) all academic mention. He was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN academic all-region team in both 2005-06 and 2006-07 and is prime candidate for an N.C.A.A. postgraduate scholarship.

He was also among the top students at the College earning a 3.90 cumulative grade point average and received his bachelor's in mathematics. He earned a position on the College's Dean's List in eight straight semesters and also an athletics department Director's Citation in all eight previous marking periods as well. He was the lone student-athlete to post a 4.00 grade point average in both the fall and spring semesters this past year and was honored at the College's Academic Honors Convocation with the highest GPA in his major.

Off-the-court he is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a Resident Assistant Perspective Leaders and is a part of the Natural High Program Organizer.

He is the son of Ron and Anita Stopp of Altoona, PA and a graduate of Altoona High School. He has indicated interest in the ATP satellite pro tennis tour before settling on a choice of graduate school.