Oakville Middle School teacher Peggy Leon is known for getting the most out of her music students.

However, this year, Leon took on another task — starting a tennis club at the school.

Like everything else she gets involved with, the OMS tennis club was a big success, according to a Mehlville School District news release.

Supported financially by a grant written by local U.S. Tennis Association program coordinator Mark Platt, the OMS tennis club received 36 free racquets and a case of tennis balls from the national organization.

Since there were 40 pupils signed up to play, practices were conducted twice a week. At each practice, pupils worked on proper technique through the use of a games approach to learning tennis.

Leon sought out additional tennis instructors to help with her club.

Oakville Middle eighth-grader Jessica Raatz, who plays competitively on the St. Louis Junior Tennis Tournament circuit, volunteered to help at meetings and practices.

Also assisting were three members of Oakville Senior High School’s tennis teams, Kevin Nicoletti, Stacy Goebel and Audrey Faulstich.

Throughout the school year, the OMS tennis club took three field trips to the Sunset and Vetta-Concord tennis clubs to work with their pros.

Club members also received free tickets to attend the July 16 match of the St. Louis Aces professional tennis team at the Dwight Davis Center in Forest Park.

OMS tennis club members are excited about seeing Aces stars Andy Roddick and Brad Gilbert play at the match, the release stated.