Spencer Ellingson / Winonan

Dating back to last season, the Winona State University women’s tennis team has now lost their last 11 matches.

The Warriors started off the season with an 8-1 loss to the Carleton College Knights last weekend at the Winona Tennis Center.

Winona State has now dropped four straight matches to the Knights.

Sophomore and captain Rachel Gantz, along with sophomore Justine Daane emphasized how young of a team they are and how it will only get better as the season continues.

Gantz was very excited about the partnership of Daane and herself.

“It was fun getting the win last week and we are expecting to be successful heading into our matchup next week,” Gantz said.

The Warriors head up to Grand Forks where they will first face off against the Bemidji State Beavers at 3:30 p.m.

The team is ready to move on from the tough loss last week and start the conference matches.

Bemidji State has finished in the bottom half of the conference for five years in a row. Beaver head coach Mark Fodness has yet to lead a team to a winning season since coming to the team four years ago.

The Warriors have come out on top in both matches against the Beavers in the last two years.

Gantz said this is the first time the team will take a long road trip and she is expecting it will take a some time to adjust.

Bemidji State is not the only team the Warriors will face in Grand Forks.

Saturday morning Winona State will take on the University of Minnesota, Crookston team in an 8 a.m. match.

Rewinding all the way back to 2008, the Warriors have yet to lose a point to the Golden Eagles, beating them 9-0 in each of the last seven matches.

The Golden Eagles have not won a match since late March of 2014, finishing last year with an 0-16 record.

They were only able to win nine points out of 144 possible points last year.

Daane said the Warriors are confident this is a weekend they can come out victorious for the first time since Mar. 9 of last year.

Gantz also explained how victory is not necessarily what they are looking for, they are heading into this weekend expecting everyone to improve and enjoy the weekend.

These matchups will be the first look into league play and will play an important role in the seeds of the NSIC tournament.

Gantz explained how both matches will be tough, but everyone has been practicing hard and they are motivated to get “wins across the board.”

Gantz said the biggest thing they took away from last week is how their agility and offensive game needs to be improved and everyone has been working very hard on this all week.

After the weekend in North Dakota, the women will head to Sioux Falls to take on Minnesota State University, Mankato and Southwest Minnesota State University.

“The extended road trip will be a challenge for the girls,” Gantz said. “But it will also be a fun time where the girls will really get to know each other.”