Time Out Session: Alyson Matriotti’s Senior Season Cut Short

Despite+having+this+years+softball+season+canceled%2C+Senior+Alyson+Matriotti+reminisces+on+her+past+few+years+at+Seattle+U+and+looks+forward+to+her+future.

Photo via Seattle U Athletics

Despite having this year’s softball season canceled, Senior Alyson Matriotti reminisces on her past few years at Seattle U and looks forward to her future.

With her season unexpectedly cut short due to the current global COVID-19 pandemic, nowadays Senior Sports and Exercise Science major and Softball Player Alyson Matriotti has been spending her time adjusting to life inside. Matriotti, a utility player hailing from Evrett, Washington, started in 56 games last season for the Redhawks. She also scored the iconic game-winning run in Seattle U’s first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament win.

LJ: Where are you currently?

AM: I’m still living in my apartment in Seattle, but I’m originally from Everett so I’ve gone home to visit my family a couple of times.

LJ: What have you been up to while in quarantine?

AM: I play a lot of board games, workout, and some of my friends that I’m quarantined with brought some nerf guns up, so we’ve been having Nerf gun wars.

LJ: How have you been adjusting to zoom class and online schooling? Is there anything you particularly miss about in-person classes?

AM: I’d say online learning has been pretty good. I think all of our professors are doing a great job at adjusting and learning as we go, as are all the students. The thing I miss most about meeting in-person is social interaction; I think it’s hard because no matter how much you interact with people online, it’s not the same as in person. All in all, it’s weird not being in person, but we’re making the best of it.

LJ: Favorite quarantine snack?

AM: Oh my goodness, I love popcorn. I don’t use bag popcorn; I always make my own. I have a bunch of different popcorn makers and all these things I like to use. My favorite right now is butter and parmesan.

LJ: As a senior collegiate athlete, you’re in an interesting position with this pandemic cutting your season short. How have you been coping with that?

AM: We got the news, and at that moment I was actually at breakfast with a former teammate and good friend of mine who graduated last year, and it was the day I was supposed to play my final home opener. We got the news that our season had been put on hold, and then, I kind of figured it wasn’t going to open back up and we weren’t going to be able to play anything. I was heartbroken. I felt lost for words, it was indescribable. I immediately went to hang out with all of my other senior friends and I remember that all the senior parents were visiting—even the ones from out of state—because we were scheduled to play our first home opener. It’s been hard, it’s like grief. I think that’s what people are calling it, dealing with the loss of a season feels similar to grief. So, I’m grieving for it because I didn’t get to play a home game at all. Especially before we knew whether or not we were allowed to come back or not, it just broke my heart that I wouldn’t even get to step foot on our field one last time.

LJ: Looking back on the past four years with Seattle University athletics, what’s your biggest takeaway?

AM: One of my biggest takeaways is our team’s motto from last year which was ‘rise before lifting others,” or “R.B.L.O.” Our team lived that saying all of last year and this year, and we think that it has helped us get to where we are. Not just us, but our athletics family adopted that with us. It wasn’t just our team that rose by lifting others; It was the administrative staff, athletic trainers, our weight coaches and other teams. It was cool to see.

LJ: What are you looking forward to most after the pandemic passes?

AM: I cannot wait to hopefully get outside and play again, I would love to do that. I want to go hiking, I want to see my friends and I want the trails to open back up.

LJ: Global pandemic aside, what’s your post-graduation dream job?

AM: I would like to be a nurse practitioner, although I’m not currently a nursing major. I want to go to grad school and get my degree for that.

Matriotti and the rest of the Seattle U softball team have worked tirelessly to finish the abbreviated 2020 season, smashing records and knocking down nationally-ranked opponents for the second year in a row. Matriotti has high hopes for the future, and like the rest of us, she waits for clarity as to what that will entail.