Women’s softball has had a tough season as they are 14-18 so far this season.
Despite the record, captain and senior Kendra Rakers said wins don’t define a team.
“We played great competition and put up good fights against some really good teams,” said Rakers. “Right now, our record may not be where we wanted it to be, but we have learned so much as a team. We have many opportunities ahead of us to improve and make it better.”
Rakers said the season this year has been much different than last year’s season.
“This season is different because we are a much younger team,” Rakers said.
Also, the team has worked to put their team together and find where everyone fits.
“So our goals for our Florida trip were to learn how to play together, find the best fit and role for people on the team and find our strengths and weaknesses, so we could work on them and get better as the season progresses,” Rakers said.
Another difference in the season has been the different competition the team has seen this year.
“This year is also different because we went to a tournament in Columbus, Ga. for a weekend and played the top 25 teams in the nation,” Rakers said. “We had never gone to a tournament like this before, and we all learned more about ourselves as players and the team as a whole while we were down there.”
Having younger players has made the games more challenging when it comes to team communication.
“I think that our biggest weakness has been being a very young team who hasn’t played together before, but as we continue to gain experience, we are using that weakness to our advantage and to learn how to play together,” Rakers said. “We have great chemistry together off the field, and we are working to translate that onto the field.”
The team has worked to improve as they are currently playing many CCIW opponents. Rakers said the team is working to stay positive and keep moving forward.
“Right now, we are in the heart of our conference play, and it can be a very challenging time overall for us, because the games are really important in our ranking that determines if we play in the conference tournament,” Rakers said. “Our biggest challenge is getting through any discouragement after a tough loss.”
Rakers believes the team can perform well going into these next conference games against Elmhurst and North Central.
“We have three more conference teams to face and we have to go into those games with a certain mentality that will allow us to exceed all our expectations,” said Rakers. The Vikings will continue their CCIW competition this week against Elmhurst on Saturday at 3 p.m.