During her two years playing on the Bow High School tennis team, Amber Chandronnait guided the Lady Falcons to two state titles while earning two individual championships and one doubles crown.

Those accomplishments, along with a plethora of accolades playing independently, earned her a scholarship to the University of Nebraska.

Homesick, she returns to the Granite State and joins former BHS tennis coaches Greg Coache and Drew Groves at Southern New Hampshire University.

The trio looks to guide the Lady Penman to their first NCAA tournament appearance – not much of a stretch considering SNHU is coming off its best year in program history, the first under Coache and Groves.

In fact, the team fell one point short of earning a national bid in 2008. After a four-and-a-half hour marathon, the season ended with a 5-4 loss at St. Michael’s College in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference tourney.

Prior to his arrival at Southern New Hampshire, Coache was the head coach at Bishop Guertin for several years. He took a step back to become an assistant at Bow – a move that allowed him to dedicate more time to his children while they were in high school.

As soon as his last child graduated, Coache immediately put his name in the hat for an open position at Liberty University, where his son Justin plays tennis.

Finishing runner-up for that job, he was excited to hear a head coaching opportunity had opened at SNHU.

“It was right in the backyard and a pretty powerful D-II school, so when the position opened up, I grabbed it,” said Coache. “The school is really growing, and there is a real buzz about this tennis team. As good as we were last year, I think we’re going to be that much more powerful this year.”

Coache said with the university’s willingness to get him on a plane to go talk to interested recruits in person, he’s been able to draw the interest of five-star prospects around the country.

Moreover, Coache said SNHU has plans in the works to build a clubhouse and cover the tennis courts so those standouts can play year round.

But his first step as head coach was to secure an assistant he could trust to maintain a consistent philosophy on the court.

Old friends

Enter Groves, who Coache assisted at BHS.

“Basically, we just switched titles, and I remind him of that all the time,” said Coache. “We’ve been friends and have played together for years. He’s a great coach, and we definitely share a lot of laughs.”

Coache was so interested in bringing Groves in from the onset that the two worked out a schedule that allowed the latter to fulfill a commitment he made to his daughter, a senior playing for the Goffstown High School tennis team this past season.

“He’s very passionate about the game and very competitive but truly a fair individual who is very fun to work with,” said Groves, who coached the Bow boys to three straight playoff appearances after five years and four titles at Souhegan High School in Amherst. The college game presents unique challenges and opportunities, he said.

“You’re dealing with a different commitment, as far as player development is concerned – and certainly their maturity,” said Groves, who has prior experience coaching at D-III Muskingum College in Ohio. “There’s also the fact that at the college level you’re actually right on the court with the players … You can interject in between points and stuff of that nature. Both you and the player are out there trying to win a match.”

Return engagement

He’s especially looking forward to working with Chandronnait, who said she chose Southern New Hampshire University not only because it offered her preferred major, restaurant management, but also the opportunity to reunite with two coaches she learned to respect while growing up in Bow.

“I’ve known them for a long time,” she said. “(Coache) is just really enthusiastic, and I really like his positive energy and the fact he’s so excited about everything.”

More importantly, though – after a lengthy battle to be released from her Nebraska scholarship – Chandronnait said she’s just happy to be back where she belongs.

“I pretty much just wanted to be close to home. I missed New Hampshire. I missed everything here,” she said. “I’m so happy to be back and to have people around me that I know. It’s just different here. I don’t know how to explain it. I feel like I’m wanted here, and I feel like (Coache and Groves) have a lot of faith in me, which is nice.”

Chandronnait was 19-6 in Division I playing in the No. 4 and 5 spot on the Nebraska ladder. There’s little doubt she’ll be the top seed next season at SNHU.

“Personally, I think her senior year of high school she would have won the boys title. We’re talking about a very, very powerful player we’re bringing in,” said Coache. “I tell everyone she chose (SNHU) because of the coaching, but she really could have gone anywhere. I told her, ‘Hey, you know you can definitely help pioneer this program, open some doors, put us on the national map, and I think she was very attracted to that.”

SNHU’s solid lineup Chandronnait joins fellow standout Catalina Echeverry, a Columbian native who went 10-1 as a freshman at SNHU, along with several other talented athletes.

Coache said Chandronnait has already met and began to bond with her teammates.

“I think Amber has found something she’s been looking for a long time in terms of a positive team atmosphere,” said Coache. “She’s about the nicest girl you’d ever meet, but when she gets on the court she’s as tough as nails. Boy is she competitive, and yet she still keeps a smile.”

“Amber is a very eager individual that’s very committed to taking us to another level. As far as the team is concerned, her attitude and her work ethic will only serve to help the other girls,” said Groves. “And of course, she creates strengths in the rest of the lineup. I’ve always felt we’re competitive at the five and six positions, but she certainly strengthens the middle of our lineup. I feel very strong about our two, three and four spots now. Everyone’s excited about it. We’re ready to take on an NCAA bid.”