Fillies best in own invite

Barrington tennis coach Tracy Waters was a little worried about something this past week - getting through homecoming.

The Fillies have not lost a conference dual meet this year, and Waters said she was happy that Barrington's homecoming festivities fell a week before the Mid-Suburban League meet.

It did conflict with the Barrington Invite on Saturday, but the Fillies were able to avoid the potential distractions to garner first place at the event.

Sophomore Kristy Dodge took top honors at No. 1 singles but was a little disappointed because she won by default.

Her opponent withdrew before the final match.

"I was really looking forward to that last match, but oh well. Save it for state, I guess," Dodge said.

Waters said it was unfortunate the match didn't take place.

"That's too bad, because that would have been a good match," Waters said. "We were ready to play it."

Dodge has been the best player pretty much every time she has played this fall.

She has only one loss - to Nida Hamilton of Hinsdale Central, who Dodge lost to in the state finals last year when both players were part of doubles teams.

But this year, Dodge has switched to singles play, a transition that has been pretty easy.

"I love playing singles because I get so intense during it, and it's so fun," Dodge said. "For some reason I have a passion for singles rather than doubles."

Barrington also had strong showings at No. 1 doubles, where Alli Linden and Meg Crowley took third place, and No. 3 singles, where Julia Hrobon finished in second place.

"It's always nice if you get beat to be able to bounce back because it's still points," Waters said. "So, just a team effort."

The depth of the Fillies really showed on Saturday, and it is the large amount of talent that makes Barrington a candidate to place high at this year's state meet. Last year the Fillies finished sixth and they are hoping to improve upon that.

"I think as a team we can definitely get top ten if not top five," Linden said of the state meet. "I think we can do well."

Saturday's meet was the Fillies' final tuneup before the conference meet gets under way on Wednesday and continues through Saturday.

"I'm so excited for conference, sectionals and state," Dodge said. "I feel like everything is just beginning and everything is starting to count. Everything is just leading up to state, which is the most fun of the high school tennis season by far."

Linden says she feels pretty confident with the conference meet up next.

"We've been playing well lately, so I think we should do fine," Linden said of being paired with Crowley. "As long as we do our best, we'll be fine."

Prospect was the only other MSL school at Saturday's meet. The Knights took sixth place behind top-five finishes from all three singles players. Anne Duggan took fifth at No. 1 singles. Jordan Parisi was fourth at No. 2 singles. And Maggie Partridge was third at No. 3 singles.