Rebecca Berger Named ITA West Region Player to Watch, Schwarz, Peele win Coaching Honors

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association released its regional winners for its 2019 postseason honors, and sophomore Rebecca Berger was named the West Region Player to Watch, the organization announced today.

In addition, Head Coach David Schwarz was named the ITA West Region Coach of the Year, while Assistant Coach Nyssa Peele was named the ITA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year. All of the CMS award winners are now eligible for national honors, which will be announced on Monday, May 20 on the first day of the NCAA Division III Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

Berger joins Defne Olcay of Emory, Claire Hallock of Hope and Heather Boehm of Middlebury as the four finalists for the ITA Player to Watch Award, which is given to a top underclassman who has not yet won an ITA regional or national event.

Schwarz is one of four finalists for the Coach of the Year honor, along with Jeremy Loomis (Swarthmore), Jay Tee (Chicago) and Mike Fried (Wesleyan), while Peele joins Barbora Krtickova (Emory), Curt Howard (Rose-Hulman) and Ben Shapiro (Wesleyan) as the four finalists for the Assistant Coach of the Year honor. 

Berger heads into the NCAA Division III Championships this week with a 16-1 record in singles, including a perfect 14-0 in dual matches. Her only loss all year came against Ghazal Pakbaten of Division II Concordia Irvine in CMS' season-opening Fall Scramble on Sept. 16, in the finals of the A flight. She provided a close win in a three-setter (5-7, 6-4, 7-6) to provide the clinching point in a 4-3 win over Division II UC San Diego, after providing the clinching points in both the NCAA Semifinals (5-3 over Williams) and Finals (5-4 over Emory) last year as a freshman. 

Schwarz guided CMS to its first-ever national title last season and has the Athenas at 25-1 and No. 2 in the country heading into the NCAA Quarterfinals this year. His record in his five seasons with CMS is now 129-12, including an undefeated regular season in 2017 when he was named the ITA National Coach of the Year, a 29-2 season last year, and a 25-1 mark so far this spring. Peele is in her second season as an assistant coach and has helped CMS to a 54-3 record in that span, including the national title last year. 

The Athenas open the 2019 NCAA Championships in Kalamazoo with a quarterfinal matchup against Carnegie Mellon on Monday.