June 7, 2011

Bronx, N.Y. - Fordham University water polo graduate student Ali Arat (Istanbul, Turkey/Sisli Terakki Secondary) was named Second Team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All- America® on the At-Large team in a voting among the district's Sports Information Directors it was announced today. He joins Fordham junior softball pitcher Jen Mineau, who was named Third Team Capital One Academic All America® on May 26th, in receiving Academic All- America® accolades this spring. This is the first year that multiple Rams have earned Academic All- America® honors since 1997-98 when Fordham had three: Barry Cantrell (Football and Track and Field), Cindy Vojtech (Volleyball) and John Wolyniec (Soccer).

The award wraps up a successful two-year career at Fordham for Arat, who received Fordham's Vincent T. Lombardi Award, presented to the Male Athlete of the Year for distinguished athletic achievements in the winning tradition of Vince Lombardi, on May 4th at the annual Block F Awards Dinner.

Arat, a two-year member of the water polo squad, was named Honorable Mention All-American by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) for the second straight season as well as a First Team All-North selection and a Second Team All-East pick. He was among not only the Rams' top scorers all season long, but challenged for the NCAA goal scoring title. In 32 games this season, he tallied a team-high 91 goals and 11 assists for a team-best 102 points, while adding 40 steals, good for second on the team, and 14 blocks. The 91 goals ranks as one of the top scoring seasons in Fordham school history, trailing only Ned Kelly's mark of 112 in 1971.

Nationally, Arat was second in the nation in goals and third in points. He also earned CWPA Northern Division Offensive Player of the Week once this season.

Academically, Arat earned All-Academic honors from the ACWPC and was named to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Scholar-Athlete Team. He is completing a Masters of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance at Rose Hill and has a 3.80 cumulative GPA.