Sectional upset has Barrington’s Linden primed for tennis state

LINCOLNSHIRE — Michelle Linden was ready. All week, the Barrington junior tennis player practiced outdoors in preparation for the Stevenson Sectional.

Her multi-faceted style — consistent ground strokes, strong volleys and deceptive lobs — is perfectly suited for October’s often-windy conditions.

“She has a lot of different games she can play,” Fillies coach Tracey Waters-Miller said.

A No. 3/4 seed at the sectional, Linden did not drop a game while winning her two Friday matches at the Vernon Hills Athletic Complex. She was scheduled to meet top seed Kendall Kirsch of Stevenson in a semifinal match on Saturday morning.

Then the rains came.

Damp courts forced the match — along with all other Saturday matches — indoors. Playing in sterile conditions at the Libertyville Club, Linden started slowly to drop the first set to Kirsch, 6-1.

“Coming indoors I was a little hesitant. She came out firing and there wasn’t much I could do,” Linden said.

But a brief conversation with Waters-Miller after the first set calmed Linden. She quickly broke Kirsch in the second set and led 4-1.

“I started to take control of the points, to secure the momentum shift,” Linden said.

She won the second set 6-1 and never slowed down, taking the third set in decisive fashion and winning the match 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Although Linden lost the championship match to Palatine freshman Asuka Kawai 6-2, 6-3, beating the previously unbeaten Kirsch in the semis gave her a boost heading into her second singles state tournament.

“I didn’t quite have the success [this season]. I’ve been losing more matches than usual,” Linden said. “To pull out a tight three-setter gives me a lot of confidence going into state. I’m excited.”

Linden will be joined by two Barrington doubles teams. The top four singles players and doubles teams at each sectional earned berths in the state tournament that begins Thursday at Buffalo Grove. The Fillies’ top doubles team of junior Anna Donoghue and senior Addie Hirsch made the cut, advancing to the semifinals before falling to the eventual champions, Stevenson’s top team of senior Kaylin Dong and freshman Zoe Taylor, 6-0, 6-1.

Barrington’s all-freshman second team, Nidhi Jha and Paige Broustis, also earned a state spot by advancing to the sectional semifinal round before losing to the Patriots’ second team of junior Vinaya Rao and freshman Katherine Harvey, 6-2, 6-2.

This is the second season in a row that Donoghue and Hirsch have qualified for the state tournament. In 2013, they made it into the round of 16 before losing in the back draw.

“They are a fun, athletic team. They adjust accordingly and play a nice, aggressive game,” Waters-Miller said.

Hirsch said many of her pre-state workouts will focus on tweaking strategy in hopes of advancing further this year.

“We are really good at the net, but once a team figures that out, in the past, we were lobbed,” Hirsch said. “We will work on new formations and running back for lobs in the air. I think our ability to adapt is important.”