The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford held its annual athletics department awards banquet, Friday evening in the University Room.
Basketball players Eric Matheson and Ali Rinfrette took home Female and Male athlete of the year, respectively. Volleyball player, Katilin McCann, was named Female Scholar Athlete of the Year while men's soccer player, Bryan McCoy earned Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. Men's tennis player, Jordan Dugan, received the Male Triangle of Success Award, and volleyball and bowling player, Erin Fagan, earned the Female Triangle of Success Award. Baseball player, Austin Parent, was named the Male Rookie of the Year while volleyball player, Kirsten Platz, earned Female Rookie of the Year honors.
Matheson was a first team All-AMCC selection and led the Panthers to the AMCC playoffs. The Ridgway native was second in the nation in minutes per game and 15th in the nation in assists. He finished his senior year averaging 19.4 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, and 5.5 assists per game. Matheson was a three-time AMCC Player of the Week and eclipsed the 1,000 – point mark for his career.
Rinfrette was also a first-team All-AMCC selection, leading the AMCC with 22 points per game, helping the Panthers reach the AMCC title game. She finished her sophomore season with five 30+ point games and was fourth in the nation with 616 total points scored. She had a career high 36 points twice late in the season and raised her points per game nearly 13 points from her freshman season.
McCoy will be graduating early with degrees in marketing, and business management. He interned at Holiday Valley in their marketing and business office for the past two winters. He was a three-year starter and two-year captain of the men's soccer team, starting every game as a central defender.
McCann will also be graduating early and this is the second straight year she has won the female scholar athlete of the year award. She currently holds a 4.0 GPA and will graduate with an accounting degree, as well as a finance minor. She was a three-year starter on the volleyball team and was always among the team's leaders in blocks. She will begin her MBA this fall at St. Bonaventure.
Dugan was named second team All-AMCC at #2 singles and has been a captain of the men's tennis team for the past two seasons. He has either played first or second singles and doubles his entire career. Dugan is a double major in Petroleum Technology and Environmental Studies, carrying a 3.75 GPA. He is also active in Project Green Ball, which is an organization that recycles tennis balls and turns them into surfaces for people with disabilities and life threatening diseases to play on.
Fagan is a two-sport athlete, competing in both volleyball and bowling. She was an AMCC-All Conference selection and has played middle and outside hitter. In addition to her work on the court, Fagan is also president of the campus acapella group, basic pitches. She is also a math tudor and teacher's aid and was crowned Miss Blue at this year's Mr. and Mrs. Gold and Blue Pageant. Fagan has also presented math research at the Penn-York Conference, and Honor's Convocation.
Parent has served as the baseball team's starting catcher and hits in the middle of the lineup as a freshman. He has also done an outstanding job handling the pitching staff as a freshman. He is currently hitting over .300 on the season.
Platz was named the AMCC Volleyball Newcomer of the Year, and was a second team All-AMCC selection at middle hitter. She led the Panthers in kills, hitting percentage, blocks and solo blocks. She was also named to the All-Tournament Team at the Wooster Invitational.
The athletic department also honored newly appointed athletic director, Bret Butler, who will be stepping down as head baseball coach after 18 seasons, to focus solely on his duties as athletic director.
