Simpson Storm women’s volleyball is headed into the bulk of conference play, focusing on the process with such a young team on the court.

“Right now, our record isn’t ideal, but we’re definitely getting better through each game and definitely learning.” first-year Jada Schmidts said. “We are working on making big improvements to do better as the season goes forward.”

Schmidts is currently leading the team with 150 kills, and first-year Emily Williams comes in second with 118 kills.

“Emily and Jada are two who are going to do really, really good things for this program, ” junior Blayne Koster said. “I feel like giving them some time, letting them build up some confidence and let their personality really flourish on the court will take this program to the next level.” 

Schmidts and Williams, along with sophomore Peyton Mitchell, have been selected at least once to an all-tournament team for their performance during non-conference play.  

Head Coach KK Palea said, “We have people that love to play the game and it’s now just the confidence level of them knowing that they can change the outcome of the game. They just have to believe in it.” 

Senior Iman Ghalibaf, who leads the team with 269 digs, and Mitchell have also been credited to be impactful leaders on the team thus far. 

Ghalibaf said, “I don’t think I’m the most vocal person, which is something I’m working on, but I think I lead by example and showing hard work every day goes along with the team.”

The team is focusing on energy and work ethic during this transitional season.

Schmidts said, “With our 6 a.m. practice, it can be really hard to have energy in the morning and like want to be there, but the people there genuinely make me want to show up to practice, work hard, and want to get better.” 

Although they struggle with the adversity of being a young team, there is a strong focus on overall growth throughout the season. 

Ghalibaf said, “I’ve been struggling with just trusting the process. Just wanting to get to that winning record too fast rather than trusting the baby steps we have to take to get there.”

Schmidts added, “As a team, I am hoping we can become more of a unit that feels good about the hard work we put out there and feels good about how we play other teams.”

With the goal of making the conference tournament still in mind, there is a lot of season left for the Storm to potentially flip the script. 

“We just have to figure out how we can start to lean on each other so we’re not falling apart when it counts,” Palea continued, “I think it’s just one of those things you have to go through and it’s tough. If we can persevere it will end up being really good for us.”

The Storm will take on Loras Duhawks on Friday, Oct. 6.