CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Navy sophomore Patricia Mattingly added a second major award of the season to her resume on Thursday when the Patriot League announced her as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year and one of seven members on the volleyball Academic All-League team. Mattingly was selected as the League's Setter of the Year on Tuesday.
Voting was conducted by the League's nine volleyball sports information contacts who could not cast ballots for their own student-athletes.
Seven of the nine teams in the League placed a student-athlete on the Academic All-League squad, which was comprised of American sophomore Aleksandra Kazala, Army West Point junior Megan Bryn, Bucknell junior Hailey Stout, Colgate senior Katie Stebbins, Holy Cross senior Mandy Sifferlen, and Lehigh sophomore Megan Polak, in addition to Mattingly.
Mattingly, a native of New Albany, Ind., is the second Navy player to be recognized as the volleyball scholar-athlete and is the first since Rachel Dougherty won the award in 2007. She is a sophomore studying Economics with a 3.77 grade-point average and was named to the USNA’s Superintendent’s List (the highest academic honors recognition at the academy) in both of her completed semesters.
On Tuesday, Mattingly was announced as the League’s Setter of the Year and was named to the All-League First Team, and helped the Midshipmen qualify for the Patriot League Volleyball Championship after a year hiatus from the tournament. Navy finished with a 10-6 mark against League opponents. The Mids currently have an overall record of 20-10, marking the 17th time since the program first began in 1977 that the team captured at least 20 wins and the first since 2007.
Her 923 assists this season ranks third at Navy during the rally scoring era and ninth in school history. Mattingly has accumulated 1,702 career assists so far and ranks fourth at Navy during the rally scoring era and seventh in school history. She is the sixth player in Navy history to have recorded both 1,500+ career assists and 500+ career digs, and she also already holds the Navy rally scoring era record of 24 career double-doubles.
Three other volleyball players on the All-League squads also earned Academic All-League honors. Kazala, majoring in Business Administration (3.51 GPA), and Sifferlen, majoring in Biology (3.77 GPA), garnered first team All-League on Tuesday. Stebbins, a Molecular Biology major with a Sociology minor (3.61 GPA) collected second team All-League honors.
Bryn, an International Relations major, Terrorism Studies minor with a 3.746 GPA, earned CoSIDA Academic All-District earlier this season, while Stout (Markets, Innovation & Design: 3.66 GPA) and Polak (Behavioral Neuroscience: 3.87 GPA) round out this year’s team of seven.
The 2016 Patriot League Volleyball Championship begins this weekend with two semifinal matches on Saturday and the championship on Sunday at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. Three-time defending champion American hosts No. 4 Navy in Saturday's first match at 1:05 p.m., while No. 2 Colgate takes on No. 3 Army West Point at 4:05 p.m. The winners will advance to the championship match the following day at 1 p.m., for a chance to claim the 2016 Patriot League championship title and automatic berth to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Academic All-Patriot League Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen or students in their first academic year at their school are not eligible for the honor.
The Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for each individual sport comprises the pool of nominees for the Patriot League Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards given out over the summer. One male and one female are selected for this honor.
Patriot League Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Patricia Mattingly, Navy
Volleyball Academic All-Patriot League Team
Aleksandra Kazala, American, So., OH %
Megan Bryn, Army West Point, Jr., L @
Hailey Stout, Bucknell, Jr., OH
Katie Stebbins, Colgate, Sr., RS ^
Mandy Sifferlen, Holy Cross, Sr., OH % $ #
Megan Polak, Lehigh, So., S
Patricia Mattingly, Navy, So., S %
% - First-Team All-Patriot League
^ - Second-Team All-Patriot League
@ - CoSIDA Academic All-District
# - 2015 Academic All-League
$ - 2014 Academic All-League