Arvid Swan continues to take the Northwestern University men's tennis program to new heights as he enters his seventh year at the helm for the Wildcats in 2013-14. He has compiled an 83-75 record in his first six seasons in Evanston.

 

Swan has guided Northwestern to three NCAA tournament appearances; the first came in his second season, 2009, as well as back-to-back appearances in 2012 and 2013.

 

The Wildcats enjoyed one of the most prolific seasons in school history en route to their second straight NCAA tournament appearance in 2013. NU posted 22 dual match victories, the second most in school history and one off of the school record.

 

The 'Cats reached as high as No. 20 in the ITA team rankings and defeated 11 ranked opponents. Northwestern was assigned to the NCAA regional in Athens, Ga., where it rallied to defeat No. 19 Wake Forest in the opening round, giving the Wildcats their first NCAA tournament victory in 15 years. Raleigh Smith and Spencer Wolf were both named first-team All-Big Ten selections, the first time NU had a pair of individuals represented on the first team since 2005. Smith also won the singles title at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and teamed with Sidarth Balaji to claim the doubles crown.

 

Northwestern won 14 dual matches during the regular season and another in the Big Ten Tournament against Penn State. The 'Cats collected seven wins in conference play during the regular season, their highest output since the 2001 campaign.

 

The 2012 season was highlighted by five victories against opponents that were ranked at the time of the match. Northwestern also defeated Middle Tennessee State on the road in February and the Blue Raiders moved into the Campbell's/ITA rankings shortly thereafter. Additionally, wins against No. 51 Alabama and No. 59 Nebraska came away from home, while triumphs over No. 36 Minnesota, No. 57 Michigan State and No. 59 New Mexico came in Evanston.

 

Individually, Swan helped protégés Josh Graves and Spencer Wolf, who were unranked at the time as a doubles team, knock off Ohio State's Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola, 8-6, when the teams got together in Columbus, Ohio on April 15. Buchanan and Rola were the top-ranked doubles team in the country entering that match and they would go on to win the NCAA Doubles Championship in Athens, Ga. on May 23.

 

As a team, Northwestern rose steadily up the rankings list throughout the season. After winning four straight matches to open the season, Swan's squad debuted at No. 65 on January 24. When the season's final listing was released on May 29, the Wildcats checked in at No. 42, the best mark of the season.

 

In his second season, Swan guided a team that finished the 2008 season unranked and last in the Big Ten to a 2009 year-end ranking of No. 46 in the nation and a tie for fourth in the Big Ten regular season standings with a 6-4 league mark. The team improved from 7-17 to 18-9 in just one year and enjoyed the highest jump in the national rankings over a one-year period (as high as No. 42) of any team in Division I, the second time in Swan's career that his team has earned that distinction.

 

In 2009-10, Swan helped Northwestern achieve its highest ranking in five seasons (No. 36) when the Wildcats upset then-No. 18 Alabama, 4-3, on Jan. 22. Additionally, Swan has done tremendous work on the recruiting front for the Wildcats, building a foundation that will reap benefits for years to come. Swan's first recruiting class was deemed No. 12 in the nation by tennisrecruiting.net and he followed it up with a 2010 recruiting class ranked No. 8.

 

Swan came to Northwestern after one year as the head men's tennis coach at DePaul University. While at DePaul, Swan improved the team immensely. On the heels of an 8-14 season, Swan's Blue Demons finished the 2006-07 season with an 18-7 record and reached a ranking as high as No. 58 in the nation.

 

Prior to taking the position as head coach at DePaul, Swan served as associate head coach at NU from 2003-06. While at NU, Swan helped take the program consistently improve as the Wildcats jumped from sixth in the Big Ten to back-to-back fourth-place conference finishes. He also helped lead the team to a top-40 national ranking twice. In 2004 and 2005, the 'Cats reached the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. They also made an appearance in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

 

In his playing days, Swan was world-ranked professionally in singles and doubles before moving into the coaching ranks. While at Michigan, Swan was the recipient of the Scholar-Athlete award in 1995 and earned his way onto three Academic All-Big teams from 1996-98. In 1996, Swan was elected to the All-Big Ten team as the Wolverines went on to win the Big Ten championship. Swan captained the squad until his graduation in 1998.