Impressive effort by Fillies' Dodge
Barrington freshman Kristy Dodge still is trying to figure out the makeup of the Mid-Suburban League, but she has been around long enough to know who Jenna Langhorst is.
With a top-12 finish as a freshman and ninth place as a sophomore, Langhorst has established herself as one of the area and state's top singles players. Dodge knew that entering their match up on Tuesday at Fremd.
The way Dodge saw it was if she lost, it was expected. If she won, she'd begin to establish her own name in the area.
It was the latter that occurred on Tuesday. In convincing fashion, Dodge kept previously-undefeated Langhorst off balance and frustrated her with a variety of shots en route to a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles. The victory was part of a 7-0 sweep for Barrington over the Vikings in the MSL West meet.
"I didn't have anything to lose," Dodge said. "It was one of the biggest matches of my high school career. I just like to play. I like to be in close situations. It feels good to have a good game against a really good player.
"I guess a lot of people don't know about me."
More people around the country probably know of Dodge right now. Just last weekend, she went to Kentucky for a national tournament against some of the top players in the country and advanced to the quarterfinals.
It's the type of play Barrington coach Kristy Waters has been seeing all season from her youngest phenom.
"She's a poised young lady," Water said. "She's got a lot of shots. For a young player, she uses a lot of those shots. She'll use those shots in pressure situations. She's tournament tough. We're pleased to have her here."
Tuesday was only Dodge's second match at No. 1 singles this season. Otherwise, she's played a lot of doubles. Fremd coach Ken Goettsche had expected to see Barrington's usual No. 1 player Alli Linden, but never is sure what changes Water may make in her lineup against the Vikings (2-2 MSL).
Despite having to adjust to Barrington's lineup, Goettsche thought Tuesday's meet came down to Barrington (4-0 MSL) being talented along with his own team being intimidated.
"Barrington came here with a different lineup," Goettsche said. "For whatever reason, Kristy played at No. 1 singles. I know never what Tracy's going to do. Whatever she does do at conference, we'll have to go out and play our game.
"Barrington has very talented players. They're smart players. There's no question about it. They have a good team. … Still, we were 'Oh, my gosh, they're Barrington.' Instead of, 'We're Fremd. We're just as talented if we put our mind to it.' "
In addition to being talented, Barrington is a family affair. On Thursday, Waters will show just how much family talent she has. Against Hoffman Estates, she will start the sisters doubles teams of Kelsey and Alli Linden, Jenny and Amanda Schnack, Roshni and Sonali Khurana and Michelle and Victoria Bean.
"It's real cool," Kelsey Linden said. "We've never had this many sisters before. It's a neat thing to do."
Waters said, "You look at it, 'Wow, that's something.' I think they're kind of excited for it."