Simpson falls to Graceland in home debut

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Lynae Gruber earned wins in singles and doubles Wednesday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as Graceland beat Simpson 6-3 in the Storm's home-opener at Buxton Memorial Tennis Complex.

Despite the loss, the Storm (1-3) showed much improvement over their last meeting with the Yellow Jackets (1-0), an 8-1 loss last April.

Gruber teammed with Lauren Schemmel for Simpson's only doubles win, an 8-3 triumph over Hanna Greenwood and Heidi Myer at the No. 3 spot.

Gruber met up with Greenwood for a second time at No. 5 singles. She needed only two sets for the 6-2, 7-6 win. Competing at No. 3 singles, Allison Anderson bounced back from a 6-0 defeat in the first set against Sofia Jaramillo with 6-3, 10-4 wins in sets two and three.

Whitney Thompson nearly gave the Storm an extra tally, falling to Myer in three sets at No. 6 singles. Thompson started strong with a 6-3 win in the first before falling 6-2 in the second and 10-6 in the third.

Head coach Lindsay Chase and Simpson return to action this weekend when they travel to Dubuque for a pair of conference bouts. The Storm face Loras at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10 before facing Dubuque at 2 p.m.