Barrington focused on lofty potential

You can't ask for much more talent than what the Barrington girls' tennis team has coming back to its roster this season.

From a team that finished in fourth place at last year's state meet return four of the five qualifiers - none of whom lost a conference match last fall.

Seniors Alli Linden, Meg Crowley and Dana Pierce, and junior Kristy Dodge, are the returning qualifiers.

And it's not just that they are back, it's that they've never missed.

Each of those four have qualified for the state meet each year of their high school careers.

"We have the experience coming back," coach Tracy Waters said. "We have four of them who have kind of been there, done that."

The big focus for each member is improving on what they accomplished last year, which can prove difficult in tennis. Breaking through to the next level is something that requires a lot of work.

"I think this year we have even a stronger team," Linden said. "Everyone has gotten better from last year, if we all get to make it to state, we'll have a great chance of doing even better than last year, hopefully."

Dodge earned a runner-up medal as part of a doubles team as a freshman and finished fourth in singles last year. She will be the Fillies' top singles player again this year, and she said she learned a lot of playing that role last year.

"Keeping calm is definitely a lot harder in singles because it's your fault if you mess up," Dodge said. "So I've been trying to contain myself, keeping it all in focus."

Crowley said her and Linden (who made it to the quarterfinals last year) didn't get much of a chance to play as a team in tournaments over the summer, but she doesn't see that as any problem for this season.

"Doubles, it's not hard (playing with Linden). It's not like we fight on the court. We just kind of click," Crowley said. "All we say is that we are determined to do better than last year. So hopefully we go a little bit farther."

Pierce is in a familiar role - playing doubles with a new teammate. For the fourth straight year she will be playing alongside someone different. This year it's senior Annie Washburn, who was Barrington's No. 2 singles player last year.

"I like my partner this year, Annie. She's really great," Pierce said. "She's really good to play with, and I think we'll do pretty well."

While tennis is an individual sport, Barrington is very much a team.

"I really just like the atmosphere," Dodge said. "You're really part of a team more than an individual sport. It's fun having other teammates who are in the same situation as you, and always wishing you to do the best. They always want success out of each person. There's no negativity."

Barrington plays a difficult non-conference and invite schedule, where it will run into some of Illinois' best such as Deerfield, Prairie Ridge and New Trier (all top-10 team finishers from last year).

"We'll take on anybody," Waters said. "We see some good competition. There's different areas, different pockets of the state, and we want to know who's out there."

The hope is always for improvement, and everyone is going to have to be at their best for Barrington to best what it accomplished last year.

"Last year, placing fourth, that's about as high as we possibly could have gotten," Waters said. "We really maxed out on our points. This year depends on the mix of where the other teams are going, it's just going to depend upon what other teams can give us, if we can get higher."

We'll shoot for our top 10 (at the state meet), which is our goal, and we'll shoot for the players to get as high as they possibly can. Then, it's really just as the cards fall."

It may be a little crazy to be mentioning the state meet before the season really gets going, but with who is on Barrington's roster, it's a topic that's difficult to avoid.