Tennis: Experience helping Oswalt relish role

Ann Propheter still shakes her head when she thinks back to the fateful decision 2 years ago to install a wide-eyed freshman as her No. 1 singles player on Newman's varsity tennis team.

Only these days, the disbelief stems more from how far Mary Alice Oswalt has come.

"I look back now and still say to myself, 'What was I thinking, putting that poor little girl through that?' " Propheter said. "But she handled the pressure so well, and it gave her such a sense of confidence out on the court. That just shows what kind of person she is."

Now entering her third season in that top singles spot, Oswalt now feels very comfortable in the role. She knows what to expect in terms of level of play, and she also has played enough matches against the other No. 1 singles players around the area to feel confident in a game plan every match.

It was natural ability, more than anything else, that earned Oswalt the coveted No. 1 position. She was able to beat the rest of the Comets in a round-robin format, and then proved that she was up to the challenge by hanging tough in her first two matches of the year against top players from Sterling and Geneseo.

"There aren't even seniors that would want to get those two right off the bat," Propheter said, "but she didn't shy away from it. It probably wasn't my most shining moment as a coach, but she made the decision look like a great one."

Even more impressive: Oswalt had only been playing tennis – really playing tennis – for 2 years prior to that.

After playing for a summer as a youngster, Oswalt eschewed tennis for soccer. She played on traveling teams, but chose to move from the soccer pitch to the tennis courts when she looked at the big picture and realized she wouldn't be able to continue her soccer career in high school.

She was all of 12 years old at the time.

"Newman doesn't have a soccer team, and I wouldn't have had a sport in the fall," Oswalt explained. "I was kind of pushed a little to play volleyball, but I just wasn't into it.

"Then I picked tennis back up again and realized that I missed it. The more I played, the more I loved it, and things just kind of clicked for me."

With the support, encouragement and competition from parents, siblings and friends, Oswalt took her natural talent and honed it into a strong all-around game good enough to be the Comets' best player from Day 1. It didn't matter what it was – one-on-one matches with family, skills work on her own or doubles play in summer tournaments – any way Oswalt could get on the court, she welcomed and embraced it.

"I was nervous at first, hoping that I wasn't intruding and stepping on anybody's toes," Oswalt recalled of her early days at Newman. "But the girls were all so nice about it, so encouraging and helpful, and made me a better player."

"She's so relaxed when she's out there now, because there's not that tension and pressure she had to put up with her freshman year," Propheter said. "She's very sensible, puts her success in a realistic framework and stays so even-keel. Her sense of self doesn't depend on tennis or winning a match, and that's the type of leader you want on your team."

To that end, it's not surprising that Oswalt gets more excited talking about her teammates than herself. The Comets have more players out for the team this year than in her first two seasons, and she's continually impressed with the strides she sees them making every day.

And after a summer of playing tournaments in Dixon – mainly with Dukes and Duchesses players – she's thrilled to be back with her Newman brethren for another high-school season.

"It's always nice to come back and play with my friends in the Newman family," Oswalt said. "It's fun playing with kids from other schools in the summer – and playing against other Newman kids – but it's great to get back and play with them again every fall.

"We all work together well and there's no controversy at all, and I'm really confident in our chances and excited to see how well we play this year."

Oswalt file

Age: 17

Hometown: Dixon

High school: Newman

Year: Junior

Sports: Tennis, basketball, softball

FYI: Has played No. 1 singles since her freshman season. … Was 13-13 as a freshman in 2010 and 17-7 last fall. … Finished in the top 3 in every major stat category as a sophomore on the basketball team last winter. … Picked up tennis for good when she was 12.