Hamburg completes historic season
Under the guidance of Bill Tritt, Head Coach, and the leadership of quad-captains, Brooke Buckley, Melanie Haas, Elizabeth Kissinger and Caroline Bashore, the 2014 edition of Girls Tennis concluded the season with great success. Playing a very competitive schedule, the girls finished the regular season 13-2 and fought their way to an overall 17-5 record. They placed third in the District 3 Tournament. And, not only did they advanced to the PIAA Tournament for the first time in school history, they battled into the semifinals. The senior class leaves with a total of 50 victories, the most ever over a four year span.
The Hawks advanced five girls to the BCIAA Individual Tournament, with Caroline Bashore advancing to the semifinals. Melanie Haas qualified for the District 3 Singles Championships, while the doubles teams of Melanie Haas/Brooke Buckley and Victoria Kissinger/Caroline Bashore qualified for District 3 Doubles Championships.
In addition to the team captains, there were several other girls who made significant contributions to the team’s success, including Kristen Wade, Samantha Nye, Hannah Hungerford and a group of underclass players.
The team qualified for the BCIAA Team Tournament for the second consecutive year, and earned a berth in the District 3 team tournament for the first time in school history. The Hawks entered the district tournament as the #7 seed, and opened with a shutout victory over previously undefeated #2 seed York Catholic. Although they lost the semifinal, the girls avenged a regular season loss to Berks Catholic by beating the Saints in the PIAA qualifier to advance to the PIAA Championship tournament.
The Hawks opened the state tournament with the mantra “we can do this’. Playing the first round with confidence, they coasted to a convincing 4-1 victory over Westmont-Hilltop, the District 6 Champion. They followed that up with a nail-biting 3-2 quarterfinal win against Indiana.
Coach Tritt called it their most complete match of the year, and said, “They did it at the right time in the right venue.’ That win propelled the Hawks into the state semifinal to face Mercyhurst Prep, the two-time defending state champions. Although the girls gave a valiant effort, they came out on the short end verse a formidable opponent. And, with that loss, the most historic season in Hawks’ history came to a close.
There were many memorable moments throughout the year. The girls put forth an effort of which everyone in the Hamburg Area could be proud. However, beyond their wins, records and a championship chase is the fact 23 girls put their individual ambitions aside and united as a one. One team with one heartbeat.
Several players on the team are participants in Leadership In Student Athletes (LISA), and are in other leadership positions within the District and Hamburg Area community. The average GPA of the starting line-up is 97.5.
