Barrington falls to LaSalle in tennis finals

The Barrington High School girls tennis team reached the state tournament finals on Saturday afternoon, but lost to a tough LaSalle team, 4-0.

The Eagles had not reached the state team finals since the early 2000s, but claimed a spot in the Division I championship match when they defeated Wheeler 4-0 in the semifinals on Friday. 

"Everyone was winning their matches but in playoffs they stop when one team wins four matches. We got our fourth point which clinched our victory from freshman Caroline Maher at first singles," wrote Barrington coach Betsy Brenner. 

In the semis, Maher avenged earlier losses to Wheeler's number one singles player during the regular season. Maher won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. 

Beth Wang, Barrington's number three singles player, rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 victory in her match, and Alexis Brenner and Lauren Jay teamed up to win 6-2, 6-0 in the second doubles match.

Barrington punched its ticket to the finals when Hope Vetromile and Rayna Mishra won their third doubles match, 6-3, 6-1. 

In the finals, Barrington squared off against LaSalle, which finished the regular season with a perfect 18-0 record. Barrington players battled hard, but came up short against their LaSalle opponents — Kennedy May defeated Caroline Maher, 6-1, 6-0; Jenna Lisi defeated Elizabeth Wang, 6-1, 6-0; Viansa Portesi defeated Andreea Dan, 6-1, 6-2; and Hannah O'Brien and Mollie Maggiacomo defeated Jillian and Abigail Walter, 6-2, 6-4.

"I am so proud of all the girls and what they achieved this season," wrote Coach Brenner. "It was truly a team effort with hard work and dedication from the start. I have appreciated the time and effort of first year assistant coach Chris Barton and I thank all the parents for their amazing support."

Coach Brenner shared praise for the state champs.

"We lost in the finals to a stronger team, LaSalle, the only team in the state that was better than us this year," she wrote. 

"We will truly miss our six seniors but will look forward to the future with several remaining talented and experienced players."