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-America At-Large Third 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.
The Academic All-America honor is the sixth earned by a member of the CWRU men's tennis team in the program's history. In addition to Chen's honor, former Spartan CJ Krimbill was a first team honoree in 2016 and a second team selection in 2014, James Drougas was a first team selection in both 1984 and 1985, and Scott Ameduri earned a second team honor in 1996.
Chen is the seventh Spartan this year to be named an Academic All-American, joining Anika Washburn (women's soccer), Karley King (volleyball), Dee Gose (football), Travis Johnston (football), Andrew Lease (football) and Ilissa Hamilton (softball). He is the 117th Academic All-America selection overall in the history of CWRU athletics.
Men's tennis is included in the 'at-large' category for Academic All-America selection. Other sports included in the men's at-large team are 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 athletic 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.