We had a nice little break from normal practice today to honor two former Northwestern standouts. The brother-sister combination of Andrew & Sally Bartelmo blessed Northwestern HS with their tennis talents from 2002-2009. Both Andrew & Sally played the top spot on their respective boys and girls teams for many years and helped their teams become better overall with their talent and leadship while always having fun doing it.
Andrew's tennis career was continued after high school as he attended Vincennes College in Indiana where he was a top 100 ranked NJCAA player. He later transferred to UNC Greensboro where he played and volunteered as a coach. While coaching, the UNC Greensboro men's team advanced to the Division I NCAA championships and played perenial powerhouse University of Georgia in Athens, GA.
Sally's high school career was cut short by a year due to a knee injury which required surgery in the fall of 2009. Sally played the #1 spot from the moment she was a 7th grader and held that position her entire career. Even after her surgery, Sally remained involved with the Northwestern tennis program by volunteering as my assistant coach for the boys team in the spring of 2009. After high school, Sally enrolled at the University of South Carolina where she joined the Gamecock's lady tennis team.
Andrew and Sally came out this morning and lead the girl's team through some drills and games. They then teamed up as a pair to compete against the boy's #1 doubles team at Northwestern, Seth Russell and Hunter Love. The girls team was treated to lunch while they watched the high level doubles match play out in front of them. We did a ceremony before the exhibition match to formally name court #1 at Northwestern, "BARTELMO COURT."
Sally (Left in picture) leads the girls through some doubles drills
Left to Right: Andrew, Sally, Cary Bartelmo, Former NHS Coach David Bartles
Thank you to all the parents, boosters, and other fans of Northwestern tennis that came out to support these two outstanding alumni. They, and their mother Cary, were very thankful for the support and were very complimentary at the talent the girls displayed as well as Hunter & Seth.
Andrew and Sally warm up against Hunter & Seth in a doubles exhibition.
