There’s a friendly atmosphere on the Gullikson tennis courts near Anderson Hall.

The NIU women’s tennis team has a tournament under its belt and are happy and enthusiastic about its chances of defending the North Star Conference title.

Sixth-year coach Patty Groth said her teams have improved every year she has been at NIU and this year is no exception.

“We have been getting stronger and stronger every year and with the strong recruiting we had last year, we have a much stronger team than last year,” Groth said.

Three returning players and five new ones have Groth feeling “terrific” about her chances of capturing the second conference title.

Although the team’s line-up is still shaky, the depth is a strength for the netters. The line-up for last week’s Midwest Invitational Tournament at Indiana University had freshman Hild Andersh at the No. 1 position, junior Monica Larson at two, freshman Jami Cheek at three, junior Lisa Boedecker at four, senior Kris Whitney at five and junior Kathi Kennedy at six. Boedecker and Whitney are the captains of the team.

“We lost a lot of people from last year, but I think that we are stronger and deeper than last year. I think it’s going to be great and we’ll have a good season,” Whitney said.

Missing from the line-up is junior transfer Jana Garrison from Louisiana State University, who Groth expects to jump into one of the top three spots. “(NIU players) are really sweet girls and I think we’re going to be good. It’s nice to come to a school that emphasizes academics,” said Garrison.

Groth stress tough, aggressive, and consistent tennis to her girls, but that does not keep them from having fun on and off the court.

“We have a family atmoshphere. All the girls are friends on and off the court and it makes tennis fun,” said Groth.

The Huskies are still unsure of what their doubles combination will be, but it should be settled before their dual meet against NSC rival DePaul University in Chicago on Sept. 22.

“We’ll be trying different combinations, but because of our depth we’ll be really strong,” said Groth.

The men’s tennis team will be looking to establish its line-up before its Sept. 22 date at Illinois State University.

First year coach Chuck Merzbacher has his team working hard before the season opener. Expected to fill the shoes of 1988’s top player Steve Wiere is Erich Andersch, who played No. 3 for former coach Carl Neufeld. Neufeld left NIU to be assistant coach at the University of Southern California.

Merzbacher has a tough job in front of him. The new net coach has his eyes set on finishing in the top three of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities, maybe higher.

“We may not be loaded with talent, but we got a lot of hard workers. I really don’t know what to expect from this young team, but a lot of them are even in their level of play,” said Merzbacher.