Drover-Mattinen Garners Another Weekly Award

By: Kevin Beattie, Associate Athletic Director

• LIBERTY LEAGUE RELEASE

TROY, N.Y. - For the second straight week, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete Aiden Drover-Mattinen has earned an award from the Liberty League, this time the Singles Performer of the Week. He was the Rookie of the Week on September 13.

A freshman, Drover-Mattinen (Portugal Cove - St.

Philips, NL / Blyth Academy) played in the A Flight of the Middlebury Invitational, winning the bracket while dropping just one set. He started with a 6-1, 6-3 win over an opponent from Bates and then came from behind to defeat the No. 1 seed, a senior from Middlebury, in three sets in the quarterfinals, 2-6, 6-2, 10-5. The next day, he beat the No. 4 seed, Jeff Chen, a senior from Brandeis, 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals and then won the final 6-3, 6-3 over Isaac Gorelick, a senior from Tufts.

The weekend before, Drover-Mattinen played in both the A Flight singles and the A Flight doubles of the Siena College Invitational, a tournament that included five Division I teams, along with the Engineers, and advanced to the championship matches of both.

In singles, he beat opponents from St. Francis of Brooklyn (8-5), Rider (8-2) and St. Francis (8-1) to reach the final. Going head-to-head in the championship match with with teammate Emilio Van Cotthem (Vero Beach, FL / Vero Beach), he held a 7-2 lead before falling 8-7 (4).

Drover-Mattinen joined with Max Safanov (Radnor, PA / Radnor) for doubles, and they started with a 6-2 win over a tandem from Lafayette. Following a walk-over, they beat two different teams from St. Francis, both by scores of 6-1, in the semifinals and final, respectively.

A computer science major, Drover-Mattinen and his teammates next compete in the ITA Regional the weekend of October 1-3.