Volleyball
Favorite athlete: Mike Falter
Favorite team: MIT Engineers (of course!)
Favorite memory competing in sports: Getting the chance to play at states my freshman year then getting to go to the state championships with the team.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: During one of my first games, we took a timeout, and Jeff turned to me and said I have to call out my hits, even though I was, and Pat had to step in and tell him I actually was calling them out, just no one could possibly hear me because I am such a quiet person.
Music on iPod: Mainly alternative, from Young the Giant to Foster the People
Future plans: Attend MIT next year
Words to live by: “Everything will work out.”
One goal before turning 30: Travel through Europe
One thing people don’t know about me: My diet consists strictly of animal crackers.
By Mary Jane Souder
Sean Kropp had just slammed home his second kill of Pennsbury’s District One title match against Central Bucks West when the chants of “You can’t stop him” began in the Falcons’ student section.
There was nothing unusual about a chant that is regularly directed at the match’s top hitters, but the next chant sent in Kropp’s direction – “MIT, MIT, MIT” - was anything but typical for a volleyball match at any level.
But then it’s a rare student-athlete that can list MIT as their college destination. Kropp is one of those rare student-athletes, and according to his coach, the Pennsbury senior is as good as advertised.
“Sean is well respected not just by the people on our team but all the way around the school,” coach Justin Fee said. “The people who know him and the teachers who know him love him.
“He’s always been a gentleman to everybody, and he’s kind of a stand-up kid. He’s always doing the right thing. Obviously, he’s a great, great student to get accepted into MIT. I can’t find anything wrong with the kid. I’ve never had anything negative happen with him in the four years I’ve been around him.”
Kropp is co-captain – along with Pat Merrick - of a Falcon squad that captured the program’s first District One AAA title since 2009 and is ranked second in the state. He is part of a senior class that provides the nucleus of this year’s squad.
“The whole group is pretty responsible,” Fee said. “It’s almost like they’re adults already.
“They’re still kids, but they’re a little more mature than the average kid you see. They make better choices on and off the court. Obviously, that shows with their GPAs and taking the AP classes, so they’re ahead of the game when they get to college. I really respect what our senior class has done in that aspect. It takes a lot of self motivation to learn that at a young age.”
Motivation is something Kropp knows a whole lot about. A hard worker in the classroom and on the court, Kropp – who boasts a 4.82 weighted GPA - is a three-year varsity starter for the Falcons.
“As a ninth grader, our jayvee coach pointed him and Pat (Merrick) out as two kids he was 100 percent sure were going to be superstars for us and would help keep us at the top of our game hopefully when they were seniors,” Fee said.
Neither player has disappointed. He is one of three Falcon players with 200-plus kills, and he was part of a sophomore class that was thrust into the line of fire after graduation wiped out almost the entire roster of a 2009 squad that was the state runner-up.
“We just came out of the state championship game the year before, so we had a big, big target on our back,” Kropp said. “I think our first loss was to Neshaminy.
“It was heartbreaking. I felt so bad, especially for Fee, but he did really well. He said, ‘We have to start again.’”
The Falcons went on to lose four matches in conference play, finishing third in the standings behind Council Rock North and Neshaminy. A year later, the Falcons were back atop the National Conference standings and advanced to the opening round of the state tournament. This year, the National Conference champions are at the top of their district.
“Sean had his ups and downs as a young kid,” Fee said. “He would play real, real good and then he would play like a young kid. As a junior, he would play really good and then he would have a couple of games here and there where he would have his slumps.
“His senior year there really haven’t been too many lows. He’s really become very consistent at this point in his career. He was always very good when he was playing well. Now he seems to be playing well most of the time.”
A first team all-league player, Kropp is an effective finisher at the net.
“Last year I felt Sean was our hardest hitting offensive player, the one kid who could put the ball away against anyone,” Fee said. “He’s been that kind of option for us, which is awesome.”
The senior co-captain, according to his coach, is a “ lead by example kind of guy.”
“He’s not extremely vocal,” Fee said. “When he does have to be vocal with the team, he does it in his way, not in a yelling rah, rah way.
“He’s a positive leader. He’s not going to be jumping down people’s throats or yelling at them to get them to do things. If something needs to get done, he’s going to be the first one to step up and go do it and ask people to follow him.”
Kropp grew up playing basketball, baseball, soccer and also ran track for a while, but after watching his friends playing intramural volleyball in middle school, he opted to give it a try when he was a freshman.
“I don’t even know what it was,” he said. “I just loved playing, and I pretty much made that my priority.”
Volleyball quickly became a year round sport for Kropp, who played on Fee’s AAU team and last year traveled to nationals with High Performance, an elite team through USA Volleyball.
Ask Kropp what he will remember most about his volleyball experience, and it’s not the medals he’s won along the way.
“It’s mostly just the friendships and just playing together,” he said. “It’s like a family basically.
“We’ve been playing together since our freshman year, so it’s real exciting to see how much everyone has grown. It’s really the people that make it. I can’t even imagine if I had followed through with basketball instead of volleyball.”
Kropp hopes volleyball will be part of his future at a school that topped his wish list. His interest in MIT was piqued when he saw the school had a volleyball program. He completed a questionnaire and was contacted by the coach.
“I shot really high when I applied to colleges,” he said. “I’ve had my safety schools, but I said, ‘Why not? I’m going to try my hardest to get into these.’”
In addition to MIT, Kropp applied to Harvard, Yale and Berkley.
“I wasn’t really considering MIT until I went up and visited,” he said. “I heard about it, and ‘Yes, it’s math, and I’m definitely a math person. I’m going to apply there.’
“I visited in October, and I just loved it. I’m a fall person, and seeing Boston in the fall was breathtaking. I fell in love with the area. Harvard and MIT were my top two. I liked the whole MIT setting. They were really nerdy, but they were funny nerdy, and that’s really me. I make math jokes. A lot of people will be like, ‘What are you talking about?’ and I’ll be cracking up.”
Kropp received a perfect 800 on the math section of the SAT (2200 overall). He also received an 800 on the Math 2 and Chemistry SAT Subject Tests. Appropriately, he received his letter of acceptance from MIT on March 14 – Pi Day.
“I really didn’t believe I actually got in,” he said. “My friend applied too, and he’s academically better than I am. He called me and said, ‘I got wait listed.’
“I was still at practice when it came out, and I’m like, ‘Oh no, I’m done. There’s no way I got in.’ I came home, sat at the computer, took a deep breath, hit refresh and I just stared at the screen. I was like, ‘Wait, I think I just got into MIT.’”
Kropp is undecided on a major but is considering biochemistry.
“That’s very loose,” he said. “I could go pure chemistry or just bio. I really have no idea, but I know it’s definitely science.”
A member of the National Honor Society, Kropp, who also has a part-time job, takes a full course load of AP classes. Last semester he took AP Physics, AP Bio and another AP Physics class.
“It wasn’t easy, but I enjoyed the physics especially and the bio,” he said. “It comes naturally to me, especially with the math and sciences.”
Kropp acknowledges that volleyball may have allowed him to get his foot in the door at MIT.
“It’s the only way I could see myself getting in over other kids who are geniuses,” he said. “I would say it played a pretty big role.”
As for his future, Kropp admits it could go in just about any direction.
“I kind of have an idea,” he said. “I really could go either way. I’m even considering writing a novel at one point.
“I really have no idea. I definitely want to do some type of research. I could do field research so I could travel to Africa and take samples of weird trees, take them back to the lab to analyze them. That would be awesome because I would get to travel, see the world and also satisfy my scientific inquiries.”
For now, Kropp and his teammates have some unfinished business on the volleyball court.
