Submitted photo Pictured is Erin Bartsch Rogerson, the final nominee for the 2024 Warren County Sports Hall of Fame inductee class. The membership drive started last week and will go on until Friday, May 31. The ballot, which can be found on Page B2, has a variety of athletes and coaches. Similar to the last selection process, the committee will be inducting eight living nominees and two deceased nominees.

Erin Bartsch is the most prolific tennis athlete from Warren. Playing at Warren, Erin set a new state record for singles wins, and played for Bloomsburg University where she earned National Rankings among the top-20 players in the nation for all four years. She was an academic All American and the top-ranked American player in NCAA Division II.

Following college, she played briefly on the professional tennis circuit until becoming a United States Marine officer. Growing up in a tennis family in which her father Jeff was the high school tennis coach, Erin was naturally attracted to the sport. Having an older brother, Adam, set a strong example and was a mentor and training partner.

By age 9, Erin improved her skills by training with some of the best coaches in the world. Moving up the USTA rankings, Erin developed a more powerful attacking style which enabled her to compete with stronger players for bigger titles. Playing on the USTA (United States Tennis Association) Juniors Tournament circuit, Erin became stronger and faster. By 13, the USTA took notice, and invited her to play in the prestigious Zonal Championships held at Forest Hills, New York, the site of the original U.S. Open.

She continued participating in annual Zonal events twice more as a 15- and 16-year-old in St. Louis.

As a freshman, Erin won the starting job at top singles. Erin recorded a 17-1 mark, dropping just one match in team match play. Seeded 3rd in her first district singles tournament, Bartsch avenged that earlier loss by beating the 2nd ranked player in the semifinals. This win earned her a spot in the district final and her first appearance at the PIAA State Championships in Hershey. As a sophomore, Erin won 22 singles matches for the Dragons. In the District finals, she finished 2nd and returned to the state championships in Hershey. In her junior year, Erin and doubles partner, Heather Consla, won the 1997 District Doubles Championship in a grueling contested final. The pair went on to states, where they won their 1st round and finished among the top 16 doubles teams in PA.

Erin had an impressive high school doubles record of 31-6. In four years as a Dragon, Erin recorded 86 singles wins, eclipsing the old state record of 80. Honored at the 1998 homecoming bonfire, she later received a state commendation from her state representative in Harrisburg. She played her 3rd district singles final, and then opted to play in the district doubles event with partner, Allison Atwood. The duo won the 1998 district doubles title and went on to the state championships in Hershey for Erin’s 4th appearance at the state tournament. Erin was the first, and only, female player to play the state event for four straight years. Bartsch and Atwood won their first round and finished in the quarterfinals. Completing her high school career, Erin and teammate Travis Myler won the district Mixed Doubles Championship in 1999 by defeating McDowell.

Following her junior year, Erin played in the National Clay Court Championships in Memphis. Erin won two key matches which moved her up in the national rankings. From there, she played a USTA national event in San Francisco, then went on to Philadelphia to play in the International Grass Court Championships. Erin went on to play the International Hard-Court Championships in Princeton, New Jersey, playing world-ranked players.

Heavily recruited by several colleges, including Haverford, Hofstra, Lehigh, Maryland, Randolph-Macon and Miami, Erin chose Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. A freshman at Bloomsburg, Bartsch started playing third singles where she recorded a 23-3 singles mark. Playing doubles with senior Danielle Faretta, the top player, Erin won and still shares the Bloomsburg University team record for single-season doubles wins with 22 straight victories from 1999-2000. This duo team was nationally ranked (20th). At the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Singles Championships held in Shippensburg, Erin finished in the semifinals. At the PSAC Individual Championships in Hershey, Erin won her first three state titles with her third singles, first doubles with Faretta, and the PSAC team title. Erin was awarded “PSAC Rookie of the Year.”

Erin, now a sophomore, earned the No. 1 singles position for the Huskies. She recorded a singles mark of 15-5 and was 16-8 in doubles. Erin was awarded First-Team All-PSAC and PSAC “Player of the Year.”

With multiple tournament wins over several Division I opponents, Erin was dominating the PSAC.

Erin recorded a singles mark of 21-4 and 17-8 in doubles her junior year. Just two weeks after the Twin Towers attack in New York City (2001), Erin played in her third ITA East Regional Championships held at Bloomsburg. In peak physical condition, Erin won three rounds en route to the finals where she squared off with top-ranked Anya Burakova of Dowling College from New York City.

“In a bout reminiscent of David vs. Goliath, the 5-2 Bartsch recorded a straight-set win over top-seed and defending ITA East Champion. The 6-foot Russian had played on the professional tour before deciding to get an education in the United States,” reported teammate Kurt Castor. “Erin just outlasted her. She was quicker and fitter. At 6-all in the first set, Erin fought brilliantly to a 7-5 tiebreak win.” In the second set, Erin crushed Burakova 6-1 to win the tournament.

This win propelled Bartsch to become the top-ranked player in the east. Competing in the ITA National Championships in Texas two weeks later, the event featured the top eight players each from the NCAA Divisions II, III, NAIA and the National Junior College Athletic Association. Bartsch was the lone American player in the draw of 32. She finished the event in eighth position. For the second year, Erin was awarded PSAC First-Team All-PSAC and Player-of-the-Year honors. The Huskies concluded their season among the top 16 teams at the NCAA Championships held in Kansas City, Missouri.

As the top ranked college player in the east, Erin improved her singles record to 24-3 and doubles to 22-6. In the PSAC Team Championships, Erin defeated former teammate Heather Miller of Millersville 6-1, 6-1 to earn top honors as PSAC champion. Erin is credited with leading her team, which included three freshmen starters, to winning their regional championships over Queens College. Bartsch won both singles and doubles events to lead her team to a top 16 berth to the NCAA Team National Championships in Orlando, Florida. Bartsch finished her collegiate career with a doubles win with Campbell for the Huskies’ lone win with Barry, the No. 3 team nationally. With that win, the pair of Bartsch and Campbell defeated the No. 16 doubles pair in the nation.

Bartsch was a three-time MVP for the Huskies from her sophomore through senior years. She was a two-time First-Team All-PSAC Team and was awarded PSAC Player of the Year for her junior and senior years. Erin is listed as the No. 3 all-time player of Bloomsburg athletes with an outstanding 83-15 singles ledger and doubles record of 77-28. From 1999-2003, Bartsch recorded 160 combined singles and doubles wins. She was ranked as No. 20 in doubles with Danielle Faretta her freshman season. Erin was ranked as ITA No. 29, Division II singles, and she finished her career as the top-ranked American in Division II tennis for 1998.

Following college graduation, Erin chose a career as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Her training began in Quantico, Virginia at Officer Candidate School in the fall of 1999. That summer. Erin played her first professional tennis tournament at Hilton Head, South Carolina and defeated the 858th ranked player in the world.