Barrington on track for its 15th MSL championship
With rain washing out Thursday and Friday's matches, what was supposed to be the end of the Mid-Suburban League girls' tennis meet on Saturday was instead the beginning.
Play finished up Saturday with the final matches being set in each of the seven brackets. Those matches will be played at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Hersey.
Barrington earned the top seed in each bracket heading into the tournament, and those seeds have held up so far with the Fillies' three singles players and four doubles teams all reaching Tuesday's finals as Barrington looks for its 15th straight MSL crown.
At No.1 singles, Barrington junior Kristy Dodge will meet Schaumburg freshman Monica Lin. Lin upset second-seeded Nell Boyd of Buffalo Grove 7-5, 6-1 to reach the final.
"I'm the underdog," Lin said of facing Dodge. "So, no pressure. I hope I can play my best."
Saturday's weather wasn't rainy like Thursday or Friday, but it was very cold and very windy.
"It was kind of hard," Lin said of playing in the cold conditions. "My hands were kind of frozen to my racket. But you just got to get through it."
Schaumburg coach Jason Campbell said he is excited for Tuesday's match. Campbell said he was looking through Schaumburg's record books and the Saxons have never had an MSL singles champion in school history.
"Dodge is such a well-seasoned player," Campbell said. "She has lots of victories and lots of experience in this conference and in this tournament. She's already proven herself in a lot of areas that are brand new to Monica. I'm excited to get to see them play."
Dodge was not at the regular season dual meet between Schaumburg and Barrington. Tuesday's meeting will be the first between Dodge and Lin, who both play in national tournaments.
At No. 1 doubles Buffalo Grove's tandem of Ashton and Heather Nisbet will get a second chance at Barrington's Alli Linden and Meg Crowley.
Linden and Crowley defeated the Nisbets in the two teams' dual meet, but Heather Nisbet is hoping facing some tough competition since that meet has her and her sister well prepared for Tuesday.
"I feel like we're ready to give Barrington our best effort," Heather Nisbet said. "I would love to have played them today (Saturday) because we're kind of in the zone at the moment. But we're both tired so it'll be good to get the rest for Tuesday."
Ashton Nisbet said the pair didn't play much during the summer, and that the beginning and middle of the season has really prepared them for the end.
"I hope we'll be ready to play them," Ashton Nisbet said. "We were very prepared today, even with the cold weather. We had a great practice Friday and we were determined to come out and play well."