Last year, she only coached.

It wasn't until the off-season that Buffy Baker got to make an impact.

In her quest to take the women's tennis program to the elite level, the head coach used her talents on the recruiting trail for the first time this year.

Her work seems to have paid off in the way of Kristen Nowicki and Leigh Ann Merryman.

The two true freshmen each won their first collegiate tournaments and so far have impressed the upperclassmen on the team in practice.

"They both look like they can accomplish so much on this team," senior Pilar Montgomery said. "They just have so much talent and potential."

That talent and potential were on display last weekend when, in their first-ever crack at college tennis, Nowicki won the No. 1 singles bracket and Merryman the No. 3 singles draw at the Princeton Invitational.

"To see them step up a level like that and brush off the pressure and win right off the bat shows they are ready to contribute to the team," junior Rebecca Ho said. "They have a lot of the skills necessary to play in the Big Ten."

Nowicki developed her skills growing up in Greensburg.

Baker said getting the home-state phenom to come to Penn State was a top off-season goal.

"We had recruited her in the summer," she said. "She had a very strong past and was recruited by many top schools. The fact that she was a Pennsylvania girl made it even more enticing."

Nowicki, who was nationally ranked as a junior player, plays an aggressive, power baseline game.

"She is a very strong individual that hits powerful groundstrokes," Baker said. "She's a risk-taker, and she has a strong competitive drive within her."

That explosive package comes in an unassuming, 5-foot-5, 18-year-old frame.

The lack of size helps account for Nowicki's one current weakness — her lack of desire to go to the net when warranted.

"When I was younger, I hated going to the net," Nowicki said. "It's something that was taught to me, that I want to do more. It's something that can make me a better player."

Baker said that Nowicki has made important strides in that department.

"I would still say she is a strong all-court player," she said.

"We are working on the transition game, getting her to the net a little more, and she's starting to do it now."

Assuming she keeps it up, her potential is unlimited.

"She definitely will be an impact player for us in singles and in doubles," Baker said, adding that the she will take the responsibility to make sure Nowicki reaches that potential.

"Kristen is a player who can play at this level. It's just a matter of what challenges her and motivates her to bring out the best."

While Baker works to push the right buttons with Nowicki, she apparently has already found what works for Merryman.

"She's an extremely coachable individual," Baker said of Merryman. "She's open to new ideas. She's willing to experiment. I feel like she is going to develop a lot while playing here."

Merryman hits a hard, flat ball and, in a contrast to her good friend and teammate Nowicki, tries to charge the net at every opportunity.

"I like to go to the net," Merryman said. "That's where you can take control of a point."

Baker thinks Merryman, a former high school standout from Coto de Caza, Calif., has a chance to do some real damage in her Big Ten tennis career.

"She comes from a strong background," Baker said. "From here, with just a little more fine-tuning combined with hard work, her game will take off."

Just as the Nittany Lions program will take off in the coming years on the heels of the strong freshman class.

"With the strength of their games," said Baker, "along with the fact they both have outgoing personalities, this should be a good start for them, not only this year, but for the years to come."

Their mutual personalities might have caused them to become such good friends.

"She's a great person," Nowicki said of Merryman. "I like her a lot. She's already one of my best friends here."

It might be fitting the two developed a friendship, because four years from now, Penn State tennis fans might closely associate Nowicki and Merryman together. It very well could happen that they become known as the players of the vaunted recruiting class of 2000 that took the program to the top.

A recruiting class that Baker hopes to match in coming seasons.

"They are what I look for when I recruit," Baker said. "I hope to follow with more players like Kristen and Leigh Ann."