Impressive debut
By DAVID MERRILL Sports reporter
Maryville’s Maggie Kempf hits a forehand against Benton during the Spoofhounds’ early season match with the Cardinals.
Heading into the fall sports season, Maryville’s Maggie Kempf and T.J. Oglesby were looking for a new after-school activity to call their own. Both had decided that volleyball wasn’t the best fit and set out to give tennis a try.
Oglesby and Kempf did some preparation ahead of the team tryouts. Oglesby worked with St. Joseph area tennis instructor Erick Thacker a couple of times over the summer and took a few more lessons midseason. Kempf hit with her younger brother Peter to get ready.
“With T.J., that first lesson, you could tell, to an extent, that she hadn’t played before,” Thacker said. “It was just a matter of getting the technique and the consistency down.”
By the end of Oglesby’s fifth lesson with Thacker, he said she had made great improvement.
“T.J. was one of the rare cases in the sense that she was able to pick up things very quickly because she’s so athletic to begin with and she’s smart and determined.”
McGinness said she saw fast improvement out of Kempf once practice started as well and that Oglesby’s serve came easier due to the volleyball background.
The duo quickly put their natural athletic ability and competitive drive to use and earned a spot on the team as the No. 3 doubles team while Kempf played No. 5 singles and Oglesby No. 6.
While neither played against the toughest of the Midland Empire Conference’s competition, their opponents had all spent more time around the game than they had. In some areas of the state, parents put racquets in their children’s hands as soon as they can walk.
Despite the odds, the wins started to piling up and the enjoyment level grew.
“Tennis is so fun,” Kempf said. “You don’t have to be athletic to play tennis, but you have to know, not necessarily where to place the ball, but you have to make sure you get it over the net and in play.”
Of Maryville’s three doubles teams, they were the only duo to play every doubles match together.
They both agreed that it helped from a chemistry perspective.
“I think it helped a lot,” Oglesby said. “We got so used to playing with each other, plus we already had chemistry from a team sport standpoint coming over from volleyball. I told (Nicole) McGinness that every time she tried to separate Maggie and I, I told her she couldn’t do it.”
McGinness knew the duo belonged together.
“They worked really well together,” McGinness said. “That was a huge part of the team’s success this season. They already had chemistry coming in and they both improved so much very quickly. It’s very hard, as a first-year tennis player, to come in and do as well as the two of them did.”
It worked in the results.
Oglesby and Kempf went 24-4 as a doubles team in their first season while Oglesby went 13-0 in singles play and Kempf went 12-0 (not counting regular season and postseason tournaments)
They both earned honorable mention All-Conference and second team All-District spots.
Oglesby and Kempf helped the program earn a 17-1 record — the best in program history— as well as program and District titles.
Oglesby talked about the perfect singles record a lot throughout the season as it came as a happy surprise to both of them.
“Going into it, I thought I was going to lose every match,” Oglesby said during a break at the Sectional championship. “Which, I would have been fine with because I was just out to have fun. But, since I’ve been winning every game, I get mad at myself when I mess up.”
Outside of the similar motion in serving from volleyball to tennis, Oglesby and Kempf both had to learn to use different muscle groups.
The main difference came in the sweeping, naturally upward motions of the forehand and backhand.
Oglesby said she got away with an unconventional swing.
“My swing is not how you’re supposed to swing,” she said. “I get the ball over the net, but my swing is straight across. I’d probably do better if I work on that more.”
Oglesby will have to work on it without her doubles partner next season as Kempf will graduate in the spring, but Oglesby said she is likely returning for another season.
She doesn’t, however, plan to come back empty handed. Oglesby will be one of the few seniors on the team next season and will likely step into a leadership role.
“I think I’m going to recruit a couple kids from school and tell them they have to play tennis with me,” she said.”
While Kempf had her one year of high school tennis, she said it isn’t really a sport you can miss.
“It’s not like I’ll never play again,” she said. “That’s what’s cool about tennis is you can kind of go out and play whenever you want, but I’m glad I tried it this year.”
By DAVID MERRILL Sports reporter
Maryville’s T.J. Oglesby gets ready to hit a backhand during her doubles match with partner Maggie Kempf at the Midland Empire Conference Tournament on Sept. 21.
