The Era of Coach Schwarz

2000-2010 The Era of Coach Schwarz

Schwarz

Coach Schwarz

The year 2000 marked a significant turning point in the history of the men’s tennis team. With a new millennium came the appointment of a new head coach, David Schwarz, a Cornell ’89 graduate. Schwarz made an immediate impact. Joining Middlebury after a poor 1999-2000 season when the Panthers finished 5-9, Schwarz’s first year in charge saw the team post a record of 8-6, a significant turn around in results. In the following two years under his leadership, the team built on their earlier success, placing third in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men’s Tennis Championships in the 2001-02 season and narrowly losing out to Williams for the NESCAC title in 2002-03.

For all the success achieved between 2000-2003, it was 2004 that proved to be the biggest breakthrough the men’s team had ever experienced. Capturing their first ever NESCAC title and simultaneously ending a run of 11 consecutive NESCAC Championship wins for Williams, the Panthers went into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Finals full of confidence. Emphatic wins over Trinity Texas (4-0) in the quarterfinal and Emory (4-1) in the semifinal ensured that the Panthers were one win away from being crowned National Champions for the first time. Only Williams remained in their path, determined to avenge their defeat in the NESCACs.

Kaleid2004_p130_NationalChampions 1A

The 2004 National Championship winning team.

The NCAA final against Williams was held at the Wallach Tennis Center at Bates College. In the doubles matches, two of the three Middlebury pairs had solid leads, but the Panthers eventually went down 1-2, with the loss of a deciding tiebreaker. In the singles matches, Middlebury lost two of the opening three matches, with three still to play. Their chances looked poor when two of their players went one set down, but they battled back and all three matches went to a third set. Beilin and Mayer decisively won their deciding sets 6-1 and 6-0 respectively, leveling the tie. In the final match of the day, freshman Alex Scott lost the first set 3-6, but regrouped to take the second 7-5.

Alex Scott in action

Alex Scott in action

In the final and deciding set of the championships, nerves must have played a part, for there were five consecutive breaks of serve. Scott eventually won the match with an overhead smash, to take the set 7-5. Middlebury had won its first NCAA men’s tennis championship in a dramatic, nail-biting final. Coach Schwarz was named 2004 NESCAC and ITA Division III National Coach of the Year.

2004 Men's tennis Schedule + Results

Complete results from the 2003/04 season.

In the seven seasons 2004-10, Middlebury replaced Williams as the pre-eminent college tennis team in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, winning six NESCAC championships and finishing as losing finalists in 2008. The Panthers were also successful on the National stage: they were losing NCAA finalists in 2005 and 2006, and reached the final four in the following two years.

2010 was another vintage year for Middlebury. They overwhelmed Trinity 5-0 in the NESCAC semifinals, and beat Williams with the same 5-0 score in the final. The team similarly overcame N.C. Wesleyan in the NCAA quarterfinals without losing a match. Middlebury went on to beat Washington-St.Louis in a closely fought semi-final, eventually winning 5-4, with the last match going to a third set. The Panthers came up against Amherst in the Final, held at Oberlin College in Ohio, and won two of the three opening doubles matches. Middlebury players were dominant in the singles, and won the first three singles matches in straight sets to seal the Championship.

The 2010 National Championship winning team.

The 2010 National Championship winning team.

Thompson

Few images capture the joy of success as well as this photo from the victory over Amherst in 2010. From left to Right: Peter Odell,Eliot Jia, Andrew Lee, David Farah, Mike Malhame, Andrew Thomson, Andrew Peters (back), Alec Parower (Front)

The Panthers ended the 2010 season with an unprecedented school record of 23 wins against only 2 losses. The team was undefeated in Division III play and ended the season with a 19 match-winning streak. It may have been significant that six out of the top seven Middlebury players that season were seniors. Schwarz commented in an interview, “The 2010 team was unique in that it was the most senior-dominated team that I have coached. They all lived together and were best friends”. In 2010, Coach Schwarz was named NESCAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time, and ITA Regional Coach of the Year for the second year in succession. At the end of a triumphant year, Coach Schwarz left Middlebury to become head coach at Brown University. During his ten seasons in charge of the Panthers, he posted a 174-37 record, and led the team to national prominence in Division III tennis.

 

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