With the start of spring tennis Southeastern look forward with hopes for an another successful season.
At the end of the 2024 spring season, Savage Storm women’s tennis earned its third straight Great American Conference title, but unfortunately lost the first round of the NCAA Division II Central Region tournament.
The Storm is back in form with four wins to start out the Spring 2025 season. Southeastern opened its season against Northeastern State. For the first time in program history, the Savage Storm swept the Riverhawks in a 7-0 victory, a great way to start.
The team then faced UT Dallas and won 6-1,. Next the Storm faced Texas A&M-Texarkana, winning 7-0. Later that day, SE played Weatherford cCllege and won 4-0, finishing the day with two sweeps.
The four very convincing wins puts them in a great position for the rest of the year. The team is led by Head Coach Brian Nelson, who took over the program prior to the 2019-2020 season. Going into the season he is confident in his team’s ability and has the bar set high for them.
“I think this is our best women’s team since I’ve been here and we’ve won conference three years in a row now, so our goals are even higher this year,” Coach Nelson said.
This year’s team consists of nine women from all over the world. Members include Jou Chen Chen, a senior from Tainan, Taiwan; senior Larissa Giraldi Correa from Sao Paulo, Brazil, senior, Sara Gonzalez from Guatemala City, Guatemala. Senior Carol Mora from Ibaque, Columbia. Emilse Ruiz, a junior from Bella Vista, Argentina. Tania Sfilio, a sophomore from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Amishi Shukla, a sophomore from Indore, India; Milana Voloshyn, a sophomore from Lviv, Ukraine; and Sofia Sachica, a freshman from Bogota, Colombia. The team is bursting with culture and Coach Nelson sees this as a great aspect of his team.
“I love having the different cultures, I think it’s really cool. A lot of international students are usually really mature. When they come here, they have no problem getting up and doing the workouts and getting to practice on time,” Nelson said.
Nelson’s hard-working team also share the same goals as him.
“We have four seniors, so they have been to the point where they have won conference and made it to playoffs and lost, so that leaves a sour taste. If you’re a coach and you’re not thinking about getting better every single year then you’re not doing what you should be doing until you get all the way until you get to the top.”
The Savage Storm already has its sights set on winning this year’s GAC title, but that’s not the final goal.
“Our goals are even higher this year, to get past regionals and make it to nationals,” Nelson said.
Southeastern has a long way until the team can defend its conference title on May 2 – May 4. SE has 19 regular season games and hope to continue the season the way it
