By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
Somewhere in the family collection, there's a video of Sara Bartzen's grandfather saying how perfect it would be if she chose to attend William & Mary. That was his school, Class of '48, and he knew she'd love it as much as he did.
 
He never pressured her, but it turns out he didn't need to. Sara was already thinking that way.
 
"He came to William & Mary because his friends, who were in the war, were going there because they could do something special," she said. "When I came on my visit here, my dad and I were like, 'This is the spot. This is right.'"
 
So in the fall of 2021, more than seven decades after her grandfather had, Sara enrolled at William & Mary. She would study psychology and play field hockey at the same place he had been a national champion tennis player in the late 1940s.
 
Bernard "Tut" Bartzen — he was born during the excavation process of King Tut's tomb, hence the nickname — won 50 consecutive singles matches at one point during his playing days at William & Mary. He and Fred Kovaleski teamed to win the national doubles title in 1948. W&M won the national championship in 1947 and '48.
 
After a successful professional career, he coached at Texas Christian University from 1974-98. His teams went 528-203 and twice made the NCAA's Final Four. In 1970, he was inducted into William & Mary's Athletics Hall of Fame. Last weekend, he officially became a member of the TCU Hall of Fame.
 
His oldest son, Sara's father, has the given name of Bernard Jr. But don't call him that -- he goes by Tut Jr. He played on his father's team at TCU from 1976-79.
 
"I had a professor when I was in architecture school," Tut Jr. said. "He sat down at my desk one day and said, 'You know, when you get out in the business world, you're going to want to drop that nickname and go by Bernard.' I said, basically, 'I won't be doing that, but thank you for the advice.'"
 
Not surprisingly, the first sport Sara gravitated toward was tennis. She has fond memories of playing with her father and grandfather, who she lovingly calls "Papa Tut."
 
She still plays with her dad, but somewhere along the line, field hockey and lacrosse became her games of choice. Her mother, MH, was an assistant field hockey coach at Collegiate School in Richmond.
 
When Sara became old enough, she played on the field hockey and lacrosse teams at Collegiate. But she would face adversity along the way.
 
"I tore my left ACL playing lacrosse in seventh grade," she said. "Then I tore my right ACL, also playing lacrosse, in my junior year. So I ended up not being able to play lacrosse the spring of my junior year or field hockey the fall of my senior year.
 
"When it got stripped away from me, I was like, 'What do I do?' It definitely taught me a lot. It allowed me to see what life is like without sports for a bit. It was definitely hard."
 
The ACL tears plus COVID, which reared its ugly head near the end of her junior year at Collegiate, put her a little behind in recruiting. But Papa Tut's alma mater was there.
 
"I came to a camp here, and (then assistant coach) Mark Egner saw me," Bartzen said. "He told me I was the most expressive athlete he had seen in a while because I was smiling and so happy to be out there. I don't know if that says anything about my athletic ability, but I was really happy to be there.
 
"Then I talked with Tess (Ellis, the Tribe's head coach) and went on a visit. From the minute I met Tess, I knew that was the program I wanted to be in. She is the best person and has been unbelievable this whole time. She's like my family."
 
In her first three seasons, Bartzen played 53 of the Tribe's 54 games. But it wasn't until her senior season that she became a full-time starter.
 
"She had to work hard to become a leader on this team," Ellis said. "She didn't always get to start; this season, she has. That's through hard work and getting to know the game. Having players like that on your team, leaders by example, helps the next generation coming through.
 
"She's the ultimate team player. She's always looking out for everyone and putting other people first. That, especially in this day and age, is quite unique and a pleasure to coach."
 
Bartzen is set to graduate in May with a B.S. in psychology (she is minoring in marketing). After that, unless she returns for grad school, her time at William & Mary will be done. It has turned out to be everything she had hoped, maybe even more.
 
She knows Papa Tut is smiling.
 
"It's been an honor to be at William & Mary and play at the same school as my grandfather," Sara said. "It makes me feel really connected to him and my dad.
 
"I remember the first week I was here, I was so nervous. There are so many things that come with being a freshman. Then one day, and I swear I'm not being cheesy, I saw a double rainbow. I was like, 'That's my grandfather.' It felt so right."