Brief History of Men’s Tennis

Middlebury played its first men’s intercollegiate tennis fixture in 1920, but this was the only match of the season. The numbers of matches played slowly increased and in 1971 Middlebury became one of the eleven charter members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) along with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Hamilton, Trinity, Tufts, Union, Wesleyan and Williams. Union withdrew in 1977 and was replaced by Connecticut College in 1982.

NESCAC Image

NESCAC is a group of eleven liberal arts colleges that share similar views about intercollegiate athletics. Conference members believe intercollegiate sport to be an important part of college life, but insist that sport should not overshadow or hinder academic excellence. As a result, conference rules are more restrictive than those of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III with respect to the length of the competitive season, the number of matches played and post season play. As in Division III, athletic scholarships are prohibited. Prior to 1993, NESCAC did not allow members to participate in the NCAA Championships. This rule was then abolished for all sports except football.

Before 1990, the Panthers men’s tennis team rarely played more than 10 fixtures per season. Since then, the numbers of matches have increased significantly, reaching 25 in 2012-13, including a series of non-conference matches away from home on a Spring Break tour.

Over the course of four weeks during J-Term 2014, I used primary archival sources and also secondary accounts to learn more about the history of Middlebury Varsity tennis. The main focus of my research has been the more recent history of the men’s varsity tennis team, starting in 2000, when David Schwarz took over as Head Coach. His appointment heralded an unprecedented era of success, and during his ten seasons in post, the Panthers won the NESCAC tennis championships six times, and were crowned national Division III NCAA champions on two occasions.

Panthers celebrate their 2010 NCAA win with coach Schwarz in typical fashion

Bob Hansen took over as Head Coach in 2011 and under his leadership the team has continued to do well both in New England and nationally, reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA championships in 2013. The Panthers’ most recent highlight was the success of the Middlebury doubles partnership of Brantner Jones and Palmer Campbell, winners of the USTA/ITA Small College National Tennis Doubles Championships held in Fort Myers, Florida in October 2013. This win was particularly satisfying because the Middlebury duo had fallen to a pair from Amherst in a close regional final. The Amherst players were unable to attend the Florida finals, and Jones and Campbell took their place. They were unseeded, but beat the fourth seeds in their first match, and then the top seeds from NC Wesleyan in the semi-final. In the final they met the number 2 seeds from Whitman, winning the match 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Jones and Campbell following their win in Florida

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