Storm start season strong against Buena Vista

STORM LAKE, Iowa - The Simpson women's tennis team swept the No. 3-6 singles and took two of three doubles matches for a season-opening 6-3 win over Buena Vista on Wednesday evening.

Returning the same starting six who took the court last spring, fourth-year head coach Lindsay Chase's team looked poised in the opener against Buena Vista (0-1, 0-1 Iowa Conference).

The Storm (1-0, 1-0) started the match strong with wins at No. 1 doubles by Allison Anderson (Eldridge, Iowa) and Tiffany Bost (Spokane, Wash.) and No. 3 doubles by Lynae Gruber (Shenandoah, Iowa) and Lindsay Nash (Keokuk, Iowa). Anderson and Bost beat Emily Gutschenritter and Haley Henrichs 8-4 while Gruber and Nash triumphed over Kellie Kroepel and Elizabeth Heffernan 9-8 (7-3).

Anderson, Nash and Gruber continued the momentum in singles. A senior, Anderson beat Mary Jane Ferguson 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. Nash beat Heffernan 6-0, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot and Gruber topped Tasha Nelson 7-5, 6-1 at No. 5. At No. 6 singles, junior Whitney Thompson (Bloomfield, Iowa) took the deciding match from Kellie Kroepel, 6-3, 3-6, 10-2.

Simpson continues its early-season, Iowa Conference road trip this weekend when it travels to Eastern Iowa to face Cornell and Coe. The Cornell match begins at 9 a.m. in Mt. Vernon and the Coe match gets underway at 2 p.m. in Cedar Rapids.