LEWISTON -Bates College has earned plenty of praise for its efforts while hosting this year’s Division III Men’s National Tennis Championships at the James Wallach Tennis Center.

“The facility is beautiful,” Williams coach David Johnson said. “What’s even better is that they ordered up great weather for us so far, too.”

While the college couldn’t exactly count on the weather, it did count on the fact that the courts are some of the nicest, and newest, in the country.

“They are fast,” Middlebury coach David Schwarz said. “I think it played more into our style of play because we also have faster courts. Our guys are bigger, so we like those faster courts that are more about hitting the ball well from the back court.”

The facility has eight Plexicushion hard courts in two banks of four, with each bank having two sets of seats, one on either side.

What’s in a name?

Two schools with two of the more unique mascots in all of college sports took the courts against each other on Thursday when the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs squared off against the Williams Ephs.

The UCSC slug is an actual slug, shown on the Web site as a muscular animal, with a build similar to California Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger in his body building days with a face similar to that of Shrek, a cartoon ogre.

The Eph, meanwhile, is symbolized by a purple cow, and the mascot is named after a person, similar to Edward Little’s “Eddie.” Eph refers to Colonel Ephraim Williams, the namesake of the school, who was a hero of the French and Indian War.

Coming home

Williams College senior Jay Mitchell is happy to be home. The fact that he is here with his team as they fight for another national title is just a bonus.

For two of the past three years, Mitchell has watched his team carry home an NCAA Division III national title. This year, in his senior year, Mitchell still could not crack the lineup in the top six, but still practices with the team every day.

“I don’t know that I could ever play like this,” Mitchell said on Thursday. “Still, it’s great to be out here and great to come back home for something like this.”

Mitchell played tennis for Edward Little from 1997 to 2000.

Look out for that van

Middlebury’s assistant coach Steve Hulce was on his way to pick up one of the team’s players at the Bates library Tuesday night when the van he was driving flipped over.

Hulce was not hurt badly in the incident, and no other players were in the van.

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

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