Lady Hawks Land 3 in The Semi-Finals at Fall ITA

A tremedous weekend at Gustavus Adolphus College was capped off by a 6-3, 6-1 finals victory by now All-American Megan Humphreys.  "Seeing a freshman come into the ITA regional with the amount of confidence and poise she had is very rare," said coach Barnes.  Megan battled through all types of players and elements on her way to a very impressive tournament title.
The story of the Warhawks journey through the ITA is an interesting one to say the least.  On the surface having three of the four semi-finalists is an incredible accomplishment and something to be very proud of as a program.  However, digging deeper into the story we see that this means an all Whitewater semi-final.  This was a first experience for me as a coach, and for many of the family and fans we had viewing the match,  as senior captain Jackie Vitale took on senior captain Alexandra Bayliss. It was a tremedous fight that pushed both players to their limits in a match that eventually ended up in Alexandra's favor.  This meant that the next round was more of the same with teamates Alexandra Bayliss and Megan Humphreys competing against each other for the ITA championship.
Having teamates playing against each other is a very difficult experience for coaches, families, and other teamates watching the match.  Although we are all proud of the accomplishments the program made there is undoubtly, a unique tension throughout the stadium.  Obviously families have a rooting interest, but coaches and teamates just want to see both players doing well and its difficult to see either on the losing end.  These matches proved very difficult for the coaches to watch as every point we experience both joy and defeat.
At the end of the tournament tears of joy and tears of defeat were shed but with the toughness and desire i have grown accustom to seeing from this team.  I believe not only the three semi-finalists but all players and coaches have become stronger and more united then ever before.  Our Lady Hawks made history this past weekend, but what we gained and how we handled the adversity of the semi-final and the final as a program (families included) was nothing short of remarkable.  That attitude and that level of maturity is something that only comes from teams with strong senior leadership and an intense desire for team success.  It is because of this Coach Barnes and I are proud to call ourselves the coaches for this team and that is also why we have set or standards to new levels never reached before.