Second-year menVs tennis coach Charles Merzbacher is looking for more of the same performances as lart year.

The entire men’s tennis team returns and looks to take another step towards Merzbacher’s goals.

One of those goals NIU may have already won by default. Southwest Missouri State won the Association of Mid-Continent Universities title seven years in a row despite a stiff challenge from NIU last year. Now, SWMS has moved on and leaves NIU as the dominating team in the conference, now called the Mid-Continent Conference.

“We would have loved to beat them (SWMS) for the title this year. They were a good measuring stick for us. I thought that we had a good rivalry going, and we’re sorry to see them go, but the rest of the conference has improved,” Me2zbacher said.

Merzbacher has everyone returning from last year’s 18-12 team which finished second in the AMCU Tournament. The Huskies might not improve their record much this year, because they take on more Big Ten teams (six). Also, Merzbacher has put the Huskies into more top invitationals.

Matts Persson, last year’s No. 1 player, could challenge for an NCAA bid next spring.

Also coming back for the Huskies are Greg O’Neil, Erik Andersch, Dustin Dobrin, and Steve Senter. Last year’s No. 5 player Ralph Platz has been red-shirted. Merzbacher said many players are challenging for the bottom positions. He said freshmen Chris Mentzer and Andy Schoeberldin have been impressive.

“The No. 1 thIng we have this year is experience. That was something we lacked last year, including the coach,” Merzbacher said.

After the battle for singles, the Huskies will work on finding the best doubles combinations.

“We got to get the doubles, doubles means everything to us. When you break it down, how many times will NIU beat a Big Ten team in singles. We’ll be lucky to be down 4-2 or 3-3. So I’m figuring if we’re close, we need play great doubles to pull it off,” Merzbacher said.

With another year of experience Merzbacher said he’s looking to improve his team for the future with wildcard players. “I think I’m capable of bringing in someone who was unproven in high school and turning him into a better player. The Big Ten schools and the Notre Dames are going to get the stars, so I’m looking for a kid with a lot of potential and I think I can bring it out of them,” he said.