The Lady Saints soccer team is hoping for a strong spring season.

The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy girls’ soccer team is about a week away from officially starting its season, the team hopes to build on last year. NSA went 8-9 as a team and had earned itself a bid in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association state tournament, winning one game before losing the next.

This season, NSA returns some of the same players from that team. Abby Herrod returns as the top scorer and senior on the team, while Alivia Giles will return after not being on the team last year. Most of the players on the team will be transitioning from basketball season, which may mean it will take a little bit of time for the team to get in a groove.

NSA is currently on spring break, so the team as a whole has not practiced much. However, coach Mike Dick is happy with what he has this season.

“I am feeling good about what we have,” he said. “I will have a much better idea of how good we can be once we start getting going here next week.”

“This year is special because it is my senior year, and I feel we have the most talented team this year than we had in the past,” Herrod said. “It is all about improvement, and I think good things are going to come from this NSA team this year.”

In the first few games, Dick won’t be hesitant to try new things with his team to see what works and what doesn’t to get his team integrated as fast as possible.

“I won’t be married to any one way that we will play,” he said. “There are going to be times where we try different packages. But sometimes you just can’t try certain things because you may not have the players for it. Whatever it is, we are going to make sure we hit the ground running in the best possible position.”

NSA will play in a tournament hosted by Norfolk Collegiate next Wednesday. It will be composed mostly of Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools. The Lady Saints have goals to finish within the top five of the TCIS this season but know it will have to come with consistent play to make a return back to the VISAA state tournament. Overall, the Lady Saints are looking forward to a strong season this year.