Storm Volleyball took tough losses against conference rivals Wartburg and Loras in the past two weeks. However, a quick win at Buena Vista has vastly improved their confidence.

Senior Captain Lexie Hagerty feels that the win has definitely boosted team morale and can propel the Storm into future wins this season.

“We played hard against BV,” Hagerty said. “We didn’t play down to their level, (and) played the way we should be playing.”

The Storm appeared to have its game back, winning all three sets on the road Wednesday night. Hagerty, a newly discovered setter for the Storm, contributed18 assists. Junior Hitter Megan Dunlavy tied a game record of 10 kills. Junior Blaiqe Allshouse also threw down 10 kills, bringing the team hitting percentage to .145 for the night. The Storm also had 10 service aces. Senior Libero Monica Driscoll took 12 digs against Buena Vista. Driscoll sees the dedication happening on the floor.

“As a team we have great attitude and put in the hard work,” Driscoll said. “I think we have a very resilient team this season.”

That resilience shows that the Storm is eager to pursue future victories in the conference.

“We’re going to have to take the rest of our games to be in the top three,” Hagerty said. “If we play our game, we’ll be fine. We want to be the team that people are scared of.”

Being intimidating isn’t the only thing that the Storm will have to have on their side to earn a high finish in the conference. Driscoll adds that staying healthy and having the team’s long-term goals in mind will also help their success.

“There’s really not one player on the team that stands out,” Driscoll said. “It’s taken a full team effort to step up, despite having some injuries. I think it shows that we have good depth when we can fill in the gaps.”

After some hiccups in the early season, the Storm has now narrowed in on some keys to handling their competition if they’re going to succeed.

“We need to stay strong and consistent,” Hagerty said. “We need to control the other team’s runs and hold them to few points. We also need to have constant energy.”

Driscoll agrees that staying focused is necessary, especially if the team hopes to finish where they want.

“Ultimately we hope to win conference, be ranked no less than third, and hopefully earn a bid to Nationals,” Driscoll said.

In order to advance the Storm needs to remain in the top six in the IIAC standings to make the conference tournament. From there, they must either win the tournament to get an automatic bid to Nationals, or can possibly get selected if they finish in second or third. But this challenge isn’t taken lightly.

Although the Storm has prevailed in past years, this year’s team has to make up ground. Simpson has many IIAC teams scheduled in tournament and regular season play with a current record of 6-7 and an IIAC record of 1-2.