Ben Smidt

The women’s tennis team continued its undefeated season Saturday with a 7-2 home victory over Luther College (Iowa).

Going into the match, the bottom line was preparation, coach Tom Gillman said.

“When you play Luther you’ve got to expect to compete,” Gillman said. “Every single person on the team did some good things (Saturday).”

Luther is a strong team, especially when it comes to doubles, Gillman said. But the Blugolds embrace such opportunities to be challenged.

“If we don’t play teams like Luther, we might not get tested enough,” Gillman said.

This challenge is especially important in the realm of doubles, he said.

“I think doubles and singles were two totally separated entities in this match,” he said. The Blugolds’ singles matches were strong, he added, whereas the doubles contests had both good and bad elements.

Senior captain Alison Hover dominated at No. 1 singles, defeating Luther’s Miriam Blom.

Freshman Laurie Alonso won at No. 2 singles, while sophomore Jenny Stafford won at No. 3.

Sophomore Tara Anderson took the victory at No. 4, and Alonso’s phenomenal freshman counterpart, Katie Steffes, won 6-3, 6-0 in the sixth flight.

Stafford and senior captain Megan Tauer teamed up for the victory at No. 2 doubles. Sophomore Becky Hollinger and junior Molly Cadwell won at No. 3.

The women have been working consistently to improve their doubles play, sophomore Lindsay Lee said.

“Like always, we were working more in doubles (Saturday),” she said. “We’re always working hard to take more risks, be more aggressive.”

Part of this, she added, was playing the men’s tennis team during practice last week. This experience helped teach the women to be more aggressive on the court.

Gillman also emphasized risk-taking and aggressiveness.

“I think the biggest thing we need to do, especially in doubles, is just not worry about missing,” he said. “We don’t want to look at the downside of taking risks. We want to go for the big shots with more consistency.”

The team’s goals for improvement notwithstanding, Gillman was happy with the outcome of the Luther match. And it helps to be challenged so early in the season, he said.

“The timing of this match is really good for us,” he said. “It lets us know we need to improve, but it also gives us confidence.”

That confidence could be crucial Friday as the women begin play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association tournament. The individual tournament helps the ITA compile its fall rankings, Gillman said.

“Our top three singles have the opportunity to go deep into the tournament, if not win,” Gillman said. “Our doubles are capable of going deep as well.

“Hopefully we’ll gain confidence as the tournament wears on,” he said. “We want to be driven by positive, ambitious thoughts.”