Matt Chen of CWRU Named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Men’s At-Large Team

Matt Chen of CWRU Named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Men’s At-Large Team

From Case Western Reserve University Athletics

Case Western Reserve University junior men's tennis player Matthew Chen (Wynnewood, Pa. / Lower Merion) was named to the 2019-20 Academic All-District Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for his achievements both on the court and in the classroom over his career.

By virtue of being named to the Academic All-District team, Chen will be on the ballot for Academic All-America honors. CoSIDA will release the Division III Academic All-America At-Large First-, Second- and Third-Teams on Wednesday, June 17 at noon.

Academic All-District candidates are nominated by their institution's Sports Information Director, and then voted on by other Sports Information Directors in the district. CWRU is in District 7, which includes all Division III schools in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

Chen was one of just two men's tennis players named to the Academic All-District 7 team. Other sports included in the men's at-large category include golf, wrestling, swimming and diving, ice hockey, water polo, volleyball, fencing, gymnastics, rifle, skiing, and lacrosse.

Chen earned the first All-America honor of his career in 2019-20, securing the award for his play at doubles with first-year James Hopper. The duo won the Division III Doubles Championship at the 2019 Fall ITA Cup, and finished the 2020 spring campaign as the top-ranked doubles pairing in Division III. He was selected to the 2020 All-University Athletic Association for his play at no. 1 doubles and no. 2 singles during the campaign. Chen finished the 2019-20 campaign with a 16-8 singles record and a 31-2 doubles mark, coming just two doubles wins shy of the program's single-season record, despite the pandemic-shortened season.

Chen ended his junior season ranked third in program history in doubles wins (82-26 overall) and 13th in program history in singles wins (48-38 overall).

Due to the shortened season, this year's at-large honorees were selected with an emphasis on career statistics and achievements, as opposed to a focus on the current season.

Academically, Chen is a Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism major at Case Western Reserve with a 3.896 cumulative grade point average. He is a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete, and has been named to the UAA All-Academic Team twice during his career. In addition, he was selected as a UAA Presidents' Council Scholar-Athlete in 2019.

Case Western Reserve completed the 2020 spring season with an 18-1 record in dual matches, and was ninth in the last Division III team rankings.