Reaching the top is one thing … staying there is a different and more difficult story altogether.

In that case, the NIU women’s tennis team must be an exception to the rule.

For the second year in a row, the NIU netters claimed the North Star Conference crown while head coach Patty Groth was once again voted NSC Coach of the Year.

Even more impressive was the ease with which NIU repeated the conference championship at DePaul last weekend. NIU finished with a near-perfect 54 points while the closest team (Akron) was a distant second at 34.

The 16-9 Huskies headed into the tournament as the clear favorite, although honored Groth would have preferred less expectations from her team.

“I’d just as soon be an underdog going into a big tournament,” Groth said. “It’s an honor to be a favorite, but as a coach, I am much more relaxed when we’re not picked to win. The team’s concentration usually isn’t as intense in situations where we play teams that aren’t as good as us.

“That just wasn’t the case at DePaul,” Groth added. “The girls were really determined to win and they worked hard to get it.”

With two championships now under her belt, Groth does not anticipate NIU’s success coming to a standstill.

“Winning the North Star championship is always one of our goals,” Groth said. “This is the second year we have retained that, and I have every confidence in the world that streak will continue.”

Groth even believes that next year’s team will be “our strongest team ever” due to three quality recruits to replace the loss of NIU’s three seniors.

“We are recruiting way ahead of all other schools in our conference,” Groth said. “Rather than recruit for players that will be at the No. 5 or 6 position, I recruit for players that will be at the top of the lineup.”

Meanwhile, the present team members closed the year perfectly for the new recruits to follow up on.

At the NSC tournament, sophomore Sarah Murfey won the No. 1 singles trophy and teamed up with partner Sesca Nedeljkovic, who nabbed the No. 3 singles spot, to win the No. 1 doubles.

ild Andersch won the No. 2 singles slot and Jami Cheek received the No. 5 singles trophy. Both won the No. 2 doubles title.

Finally, the victories wound down the line with seniors Monica Larson, the No. 4 singles champion, and Kathi Kennedy, the No. 6 singles champion, pairing up to win at No. 3 doubles.

“Monica and Kathy have been on and off the whole spring,” Groth said. “In fact we decided at the very last minute to go with them as the third doubles and it turned out to be a correct decision. They played really intense and complement each other well. We’re really going to miss them.”

“I was lucky to be voted Coach of the Year by my colleagues,” Groth said. “But it all has to do with the kids—how they play. If we weren’t recruiting top players like we have been, it never would have been awarded to me.”