University of Dayton catcher Laura Matthews earned a second-team selection on the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Softball Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

A Nashville, Tenn. native, Matthews graduated in May with a degree in Sport Management, completed her undergraduate work with a 3.8 cumulative grade-point average and was a member of the Dean's List for eight consecutive semesters.

Matthews was also named the team's Most Valuable Player and was one of only three Atlantic 10 players who earned an Academic All-America selection.

"Laura Matthews has established herself to be a top leader among her peers both on the field and in the classroom," UD Head Coach Cara Clark said. "She continually strives for excellence in all areas of her life and is extremely deserving of this honor."

Matthews enjoyed a banner year garnering the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week award on March 3 and posted career highs in hits, runs batted in, extra base hits, doubles, triples and walks. Defensively, she committed just one error from the catcher's position and threw out a career-best 16 runners.

Thanks to Matthews' efforts the Flyers achieved their first 20-win season in three years and was in contention for most of the season to advance to the 2008 Atlantic 10 Softball Tournament.

Earlier in the 2008 campaign Matthews earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference team.

Matthews' selection continues Dayton's tradition of being one of the nation's leaders in Academic All-Americans for softball and all sports.

For 23 consecutive years the University of Dayton has had at least one student-athlete named an Academic All-American. In addition, Matthews becomes the 76th Academic All-American overall and 29th in the last seven years at UD.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at her current institution.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.