Kylie Swanson | Sports Co-Editor
Buena Vista University’s (BVU) women’s tennis team improved their record to 2-3 as they earned a pair of victories over Dubuque and Northwestern College. With those wins under their belts, the Beavers hope to build on that momentum as they continue their conference meets this week.
“This year is really different because we are all so young,” junior Haley Henrichs said. “We are very similar to how we were last year, but the uncertainty is there. We are building up our abilities and our confidence as we go. Last year we were a young team too, but comparing my freshman year to this year, we were an older team and a lot more confidence in ourselves. We came out there ready to play and knew what to expect. This year, the younger girls don’t know what to expect, don’t know the different conference teams and which ones are good.”
According to Henrichs, it isn’t always a bad thing for the young girls to not know what they are getting into.
“They don’t know what to expect which lets them go out with a clean slate, which is really good,” Henrichs said. “They’re able to play just one match at a time and win what they can.”
Despite the lack of experience, the team has set high goals for themselves this season as they hope to make the team conference tournament for the first time in several years.
“Our biggest strength is that we are the underdogs,” Henrichs said. “We have given almost every single team we’ve played this year a run for their money. It might not show in the overall score, but if you look into the box score, you will see that we are taking it right down to the wire. The fact that we have this momentum now is definitely another strength that we hope to build on.”
The team will return to Iowa Conference action on Wednesday as they travel to Fort Dodge to take on Central College at 3:30 p.m.
“Elizabeth and I believe in the team, but the freshmen and sophomores weren’t quite sure. Now with two wins under our belts, they see that we are good,” Henrichs said. “They see that we can compete and they can compete with people so hopefully we have some momentum going into our next match.”
Photos by Kyle Shade
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