Barrington nets 18th straight MSL title
After a three-day hiatus for the holiday weekend, the Mid-Suburban League girls tennis tournament completed some unfinished business Tuesday afternoon.
The tournament was extended to Tuesday after play was not finished before sundown Friday.
Buffalo Grove, which was unofficially leading Friday, was surpassed by Barrington as the Fillies registered their 18th straight MSL title by 2 points.
Barrington tallied 47 points to edge Buffalo Grove (45). In third place was Fremd at 31, while Prospect followed with 28 points.
“It’s always a new experience for the team, because every year’s team is a new one,” said Barrington coach Tracy Waters-Miller when asked about the frequent conference titles. “The captains take credit for the team, and it feels good every year. When the kids look back at the experience they knew they wanted it. This is a good team, and a fun team.”
Barrington actually had the competition won on Friday. Going into Friday’s play, the Fillies needed to win two of the four finals they were in.
With a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 win from Barrington’s No. 1 doubles team (junior Zoe Kasuriak and senior Kate Allison) over Buffalo Grove juniors Dana and Lauren Goggin, and with Fillies senior duo Alia Nejdawi and Haley Mallon topping BG senior Lauren Durfey and junior Tori Rubenstein on Friday, Barrington was ensured another title.
“We had a couple spots that we had to play with pressure,” said Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Schrammel. “We let it get to us and we didn’t do it when we needed to. Barrington took it from us. You can’t take anything away from them, though. There are more important matches coming up, and we’ll see how we react.”
Buffalo Grove took four of the five finals in which they played. Buffalo Grove’s No. 4 doubles team of senior Jenny Krewer and junior Nicole Pecoraro beat Barrington’s senior tandem of Jaclyn Blausch and Sarah Dombeck 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4). Krewer/Pecoraro was defeated by the Blaust/ Dombeck team earlier this season in match play.
Also seeking revenge from the early Barrington-Buffalo Grove dual match was Bison senior no. 2 singles player Kristen Immen. After the splitting two sets before play was stopped Friday, Immen’s 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Barrington senior Roshni Sharma helped balance the ledger. The Immen/Sharma match was played at Fremd on Friday, but was relocated to tournament central at Palatine on Tuesday.
“I was really nervous over the weekend,” Immen said. “Plus I had to be confident going to a new site. I’ve never beat Barrington in my whole career (at Buffalo Grove). I’m happy I got to win, it’s very cool. I want to go to state since it’s my senior year, but I know it will be tough. Hopefully I’ll make it there.”
Also completing their matches were Conant senior No. 1 singles player Alex Bahadri and Wheeling senior Dani Bitout in a third-place match. Bahadri, in a tight two-set battle with Bitout, prevailed 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.
Tuesday featured fifth-place matches as well. Fremd freshman singles player Cassidy Seo registered a fifth-place finish at No. 2 singles, while Conant sophomore singles player Nicole Zawacki did the same in her bracket at No. 3 singles.