Tan, Parodi and Schwarz earn big ITA honors
CLAREMONT, Calif. – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Nicole Tan (CMC '20) and Nikolai Parodi (CMC '20) each wrapped up their first season playing collegiate tennis as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Female and Male Rookie of the Year, respectively. Additionally, the Athenas' head coach, Dave Schwarz, was named the women's Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year.
In the NCAA Tournament, Tan advanced to the second round of the individuals draw and then all the way to the doubles championship match with partner Lindsay Brown (CMC '18). The pair only lost three times during the season, including the women's doubles title match. Tan helped lead the Athenas to a Regional Championship and then to the Final Four in Chattanooga, Tenn.
In his rookie year, Parodi played at No.1 singles and entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed nationally. He earned four wins en route to play for the men's singles title. In the championship match, he fell only to Lubomir Cuba who won both the doubles and singles titles. The Stags advanced to the team national championship match and Parodi earned one of the Stags' team points in the eventual 5-2 loss to Emory.
Schwarz led the Athenas to a 26-0 regular season record in his third year at the helm of the program. The undefeated streak was only broken by Emory in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Athenas' fierce doubles lineup paired first years with upper classwomen in all three positions. In singles play, two first years played high in the lineup and were surrounded by a senior, two juniors and a sophomore.
By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director
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