Despite going winless, Storm women tennis return home with boost of confidence

by Brett Crable

Despite the women’s tennis team not particularly enthused about the outcome of their spring break matches, there was a lot of good that came from their trip to Florida.

The Simpson women’s tennis team headed south for break as they matched up against five tough opponents, one of which was the University of South Dakota.

The Storm went 0-5 on the trip but they took away a lot more good feedback about where their team stands then bad. Considering the limited practicing time due to the inclement weather that Iowa has been facing the past month, some of the Storm players felt they played exceptionally well and there is a lot to look forward to.

One of the senior leaders, Tiffany Bost, was very pleased to see where the team stands with such limited time spent together before the trip.

“Several of our singles matches went into a third set tiebreaker. In each of these matches we battled hard and fought till the end,” Bost said. “As a team we do well with communication on and off of the court. There are always things to work on, and some of those things will work themselves out with regular practice since we have been stuck in the snow for quite some time.”

Bost is optimistic that things will start to fall into place and now is the time to work out some of the kinks in the team’s game.

“Overall this trip went well,” Bost said. “We were able to examine ourselves through singles matches and coordinate with teammates through doubles play and identify what needed to be done. Though this season is a short one, since we only have a few weeks left, spring is always the time to build and work on our weaknesses.”

Senior Nicole Gilbert also believed that the team is in good shape and that playing larger schools can mess with confidence early on in a season.

“Some of the matches were a little difficult,” Gilbert said. “We are going to be back up against people that are more at our ability level, because going up and playing a Division I school when you are a Division III is quite a jump and kind of hit our confidence level, but I think we will get back on track for the spring season once we can get back outside.”

Gilbert is very happy to be on this team because of the chemistry and teammates that she is surrounded by.

“I just love the girls in general,” she said. “We always have a good time on and off the court. We all get along together which helps us play better as well.”

What was really the first time for the women being able to play outside, the season looks bright. They learned several things about their team and feel it will only get better from here.

The Storm are not in action again until Friday, April 5, where they will be taking on Northwestern. The match will start at 3:30 p.m. at home.