There weren't many wins to show for it, but the Missouri Valley College men's and women's tennis teams gained considerable experience last week during the Spring Break Tournament at Hilton Head, S.C.

"This was a good trip for us," noted MVC head coach Ryan Carney. "I would like to have won more matches, but this trip was more about getting into form.

"We made a lot of progress during the week and now have a much better idea of what we need to work on," he assessed.

The Valley men won only one of five matches, a 7-2 decision over North Carolina Central. Before that were losses of 8-1 to Bryant (R.I.) and 9-0 to Washington (Md.). The Vikings closed the tournament by dropping a 7-2 contest to Ithaca (N.Y.) and 8-1 tilt against Case-Western Reserve (Ohio).

Valley (1-5) didn't win any matches in the top two singles spots, but had a little more success down-order with two victories each for senior Miguel Pacheco and freshmen Alonso Marroquin and Diego Malaga. Junior Blake Gutierres and freshman Derek Gillilan of Higginsville also picked up wins.

Both of the Vikings' doubles victories came against NCC, by the teams of freshman Lorenz Pestinger and Gillilan and Pacheco and Gutierres.

The Valley women didn't break through to the W column, but finished the meet with two close duals. After losing to Dickinson (Pa.), 7-2, and Washington, 9-0, the Lady Vikings made it close while being defeated by Ithaca, 6-3, and Northwestern (Minn.), 5-4.

The good news for MVC was the performance of freshman Altanzul Gombo of Ulaanbaater, Mongolia, who won three of four matches at No. 1 singles. Freshman Helene Sallas won twice and freshman Shruti Bedi picked up a victory.

Sallas and Bedi teamed up for one of Valley's two doubles wins, the other recorded by the duo of Gombo and junior Nicki Erickson of Marshall.

The Lady Vikings (1-4) had a much better time Wednesday during a 6-3 home win over Stephens. Gombo, Sallas, Erickson and sophomore Lindsay Tworek all won in singles, while the doubles pairs of Gombo-Erickson and Sallas-Bedi also came away with victories.

"This was a good win for us to help us gain some confidence," Carney said. "We have a lot of ability, but we need to gain more confidence."

Carney is looking forward to better times for the women when freshman Shanda Simmons, the No. 1 player in the Bahamas, shakes her injuries and can be inserted in the line-up.

Both Valley teams will be in action Wednesday at Baker for their Heart of America Conference openers.