"Dave has a wonderful background of coaching in the Division III world, and was a very successful coach at Middlebury College with the men's team, where he developed and raised their program to the top of Division III tennis," Sutton said. "He is an outstanding student of the sport, tactician, motivator of student-athletes and developer of team chemistry, and we thought he would be very inspiring as well as a great leader of our women's tennis program. We are happy to have him on board."
Teams led by Schwarz have won two Division III national championships and, in 2004, he was named Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Coach of the Year. He brings 14 years of head coaching experience to Claremont-M-S from the Division I and Division III levels, most recently as the head coach of the Brown University men's tennis program, where he went 57-35 in four seasons (2011-14) at the Ivy League program. Prior to Brown, his head coaching career began at the Division III level for the men's team at Middlebury (2001-10).
"I am excited about coming back to coach at a NCAA Division III program. To me, this is the purest form of college athletics," Schwarz said. "Claremont is a great environment to coach in because tennis is a signature sport at CMS and there is an established women's tennis tradition. CMS represents some of the top academic institutions in the country. I wanted to get back to coaching in Division III, and coming to CMS is a great opportunity for me."
During his tenure at Middlebury, Schwarz became the most successful men's tennis coach in program history, taking over a program that did not have a NCAA postseason appearance prior to 2001 when he arrived on campus. In 10 seasons at Middlebury, he had an overall record of 174-37 (.825), while leading the Panthers to national prominence. Under Schwarz's guidance, Middlebury made eight consecutive trips to the NCAA semifinals, with the 2004 squad capturing the school's first tennis national title. Schwarz's 2006 and '07 teams set school records at the time, with 22 wins each season. Those records were eclipsed in 2010 when the Panthers earned a 23-2 mark en route to Middlebury's second national championship in men's tennis.
The ITA Division III National Coach of the Year in 2004, Schwarz was named NESCAC Coach of the Year in 2002, '04, '07 and '10, and earned ITA Regional Coach of the Year honors in both 2009 and '10.
A 1989 graduate of Cornell, where he played four years of varsity tennis, Schwarz began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater in the fall of 1996 as the assistant men's and women's tennis coach. Following one year in that role, he became the assistant men's coach (1997-2000), spending the 1998-99 season as an assistant with the women, as well. The Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2000, Schwarz was also the managing director of the Cornell Tennis & Squash Center.
