The number six is an important one in Division I tennis.

For instance, there are six singles slots. It takes a minimum of six points to win a set. And, perhaps most importantly for Audra Nothwehr, the SIU women’s tennis team is six games better than it was last season.

Nothwehr, who finished her second season as head coach of the program Saturday, took a team with a losing record last year and brought it to its best record since 1991, at 17-8.

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‘I want to get better every year,’ Nothwehr said. ‘Last year we had a losing record, so this year my big goal was to have a winning record. I also wanted to win 75 percent of my doubles matches, and we did that.’

Nothwehr calls herself a very positive coach who doesn’t like to dwell on the negative. And it’s easier to be positive when those goals are completed, she said.

‘It is very motivating,’ she said. ‘It just makes you want to come to work every day.’

Senior Ame Blacketer, the No. 3 player, has been with the team for three years. She said she has seen some changes take place in that time, and likes the direction in which the team is headed.

‘Audra is able to relate to us. She has played college tennis and knows what we’re going through,’ Blacketer said.

Blacketer said the difference between this season and last season was confidence. The senior said Nothwehr was always positive in practice and reassuring to the players.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen her yell,’ Blacketer said.

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After going 5-3 in conference play and grabbing a No. 3 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference championship, optimism runs pretty high in the women’s tennis program.

Tomas Gonzalez, the graduate assistant coach for both the men and women’s team, carries that same optimism.

‘Audra has the energy and what it takes to be a good coach,’ Gonzalez said. ‘I have no doubt she will make a huge impact in the Missouri Valley Conference.’

Gonzalez said the key to Nothwehr’s future success would be recruiting. He said Nothwehr’s approach is to bring in talented new players who can bump everyone down in the order.

Gonzalez added Nothwehr’s scheduling of tough opponents was key.

‘She is trying to schedule better competition because that makes the players better,’ Gonzalez said.

The people around Nothwehr are not the only ones who are optimistic.

Nothwehr said the key to the continued success of the women’s program is confidence.

‘My goal as a coach is to keep the players thinking positive and trying to keep confidence up so they can play better,’ Nothwehr said. ‘When you have a bad day, you’re very hard on yourself. I try to get them to believe in themselves all the time.’