Matt hails from Eugene, Oregon where he started playing soccer while in kindergarten. That led to his participation in basketball, baseball and football on his Junior High School team. A sledding injury in December of 2000 resulted in paralysis at the T-11 level. Three months after his accident, Matt was introduced to wheelchair tennis and he developed a love for the sport and the talent that would allow him to pursue the sport at the highest levels. One year after he started playing, he was competing in tournaments. Soon he was one of the top juniors in the U.S. and was able to attend three World Team Cups in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Brazil, and also a junior event in France. He played on his high school tennis team which helped earn him a partial athletic scholarship at the University of Arizona and a starring role on the team. Matt majored in Civil Engineering and received a B.S. and an M.S.focusing in transportation engineering.