Barrington nets 18th straight MSL title
Weather forced postponement of Thursday’s start for the Mid-Suburban League girls tennis meet.
But once action got under way on Friday, no team could postpone another Barrington championship.
The Fillies extended their streak to 18 consecutive MSL championships on Saturday with 56 points.
Like a year ago, Buffalo Grove earned a second-place finish with 42 points, while Rolling Meadows (34 points) netted third place followed by Prospect (33) and Fremd (32).
“This is a selfless team,” said Barrington coach Tracy Waters-Miller. “This has been a unique experience this year. I’m so impressed by the girls this year. We practiced footwork, focus on match play and exaggerate on match plays.
“I also have to dedicate this to the lower-level coaches who prepare the kids. I have the luxury of being able to switch the lineup without excuses because they’re ready to do what’s best for the team.”
Barrington earned berths to the finals in six of seven tournament finals.
Fillies freshman No. 1 singles player Michelle Linden defeated Hoffman junior Courtney Lang 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, senior No. 3 singles player Anna Mettringer defeated Rolling Meadows junior Erin Barry 6-0, 6-2, and the No. 3 and 4 doubles tandems brought home conference champion medals.
Barrington’s No. 1 doubles duo of seniors Zoe Kasiurak and Lucia Stumbras and No. 2 singles player Alli Holmes, also a senior, all finished second to give the Fillies a 14-point cushion for the impressive title.
“It feels really good to win — she’s a tough competitor,” Linden said after defeating Lang, a two-time state qualifier. “She was playing great and I wasn’t focusing, but coach (Waters-Miller) calmed me down. I figured I had nothing to lose so I gave it my best. I’m looking forward to sectionals.”
The Bison, who only lost by a single point in last year’s MSL tournament, achieved a championship berth in three of the seven slots at conference.
After four years of high school tennis, Buffalo Grove’s No. 1 doubles team, twins Dana and Lauren Goggin, won their first conference championship after defeating Kasuriak and Stumbras 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Including dual and postseason play, it was the Goggins’ first win over Barrington.
Other notable Buffalo Grove standouts were the No. 3 doubles team of Jenalee Moran and Hannah Vaselaney (second place) while the No. 4 doubles unit of Rachel Gross and Julia Zduncyzk and No. 2 sophomore singles player Anna Klipstein took third.
“We’re always expecting a hard match against Barrington,” said Dana Goggin. “It’s nice, because we never won against them, and our first conference championship makes it better. We have more confidence after that.”
“We were looking at the draws and they were favorable,” said Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Schrammel. “We needed to be in just as many finals as Barrington was. The stars needed to align perfectly for us to do it this year. Try again next year, that’s our mentality. We’ll give it our best shot next year. We had to play our best tennis and get some breaks from other teams.
“Elise (Mousseau) and the Goggins have legitimate shots to move to the state tournament. We’ll see what we can do with that.”
Other top finishers included Prospect’s No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Alexandra Gorodiski and junior Lauren Saiki. They took first after registering a victory over Fremd’s No. 2 doubles team of junior Allison Tomal and sophomore Maggie Hanna 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
According to Prospect coach Mike McColaugh, Gorodiski and Saiki’s title is the first conference championship representing the school in a while.
“This boosts our confidence by 300 times,” Gorodiski said. “We always want to come out on top, but sometimes (being the No. 2 seed) doesn’t matter. We can use this for next week at sectionals. But to an extent we can’t go into (Schaumburg) being overconfident.”
Hersey’s No. 2 singles player Sara Magnuson also brought home a first-place medal after ousting Holmes 6-3, 6-1.
“Her consistent returns and mental toughness set her up to force errors and take the win,” said Hersey coach Sharon Meintzer, whose team took sixth place.
MSL teams will compete in sectionals next week at Schaumburg or Stevenson.