advertisement

Teammates Vliet, Kemph continue to grow at Saint Louis

There is a YouTube video titled 'Forever Teammates.'

It's a feature on Saint Louis University basketball players Jenny Vliet and Jackie Kemph.

The title could not be any more appropriate for the former Rolling Meadows standouts, who led the Mustangs to back-to-back Class 4A state runner-up finishes.

They have been teammates and friends since the second grade.

Now as sophomores at Saint Louis, the beat goes on.

It's just that they've moved up to the highest level of the sport at the collegiate level.

They are playing Division I basketball - and succeeding, like they always have.

Last winter, Kemph was the only Billiken to start in every game and ranked 25th in the nation for assists (5.6 per game) while her 10.6 points per game were tied for 10th in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Vliet played in all 31 games, reached double figures eight times and her 45 3-pointers were the fifth most in history by a Saint Louis freshman.

They can't wait to begin their sophomore seasons in about two months.

"It was awesome getting to contribute to the team my freshmen year," Vliet said. "And I think the team, as a whole, improved a lot throughout out the season. I can't wait to see what we can do this year. It was fun playing in front of so many fans."

The Billikens played 13 games at Chaifetz Arena in 2014-15 and drew an average of 1,319 fans.

Saint Louis twice set a home attendance mark last season. After seeing 3,920 fans walk through the turnstiles for the Jan. 24 game against Fordham, the Billikens welcomed a school-record crowd of 7,184 (also a season high for A-10 women's basketball) for their Feb. 21 game against George Mason.

"It was great to get playing time as a freshman," Kemph added. "It made all the hard work throughout the year pay off. Our team also really improved throughout the year."

But there definitely was some learning experiences for both girls.

"It was definitely tough balancing school and basketball at some points," Vliet said of her first season. "College is a tough transition for anyone so throwing basketball in the mix made it even a little tougher, but you get used to it. Also the speed of the game is much faster.

When it comes to speed, area fans surely remember that part of Kemph's games.

She admits, though, things didn't go fast in terms of moving up to the college atmosphere.

"The transition was difficult because you are in new surroundings and it's the first time you are really on your own." Kemph said. "Also workouts and school get tougher so just getting used to balancing your time and taking care of your body is difficult. Basketball-wise, the speed of the game is much quicker so you need to adjust to that."

Vliet and Kemph saw themselves adjusting to many new things.

"The biggest challenge of freshman year was probably just getting used to the way things worked," Vliet said. "It also took time to get used to the intensity of the workouts."

"The biggest challenge was adjusting to the difficulty of the workouts," Kemph added. "And not having your family there."

But Vliet and Kemph are just like family, so that helped.

"It was great playing with Jackie," Vliet said. "I've played with her for as long as I can remember. We are very comfortable playing with each other, and we are both probably each other's biggest fans and biggest critics at times."

That was the same assessment from Kemph.

"We get on each other but also make each other a lot better," Kemph said. "She knows how I play and I know how she plays so it was nice to have that familiarity when trying to adjust to the changes of college basketball. I really enjoyed playing with Jenny last season."

The highlight on the court for the Billikens was a victory over George Washington.

"By far, that was the most exciting moment," Vliet said. " They were ranked 20th in the country at the time."

Kemph enjoyed the road trips with her team.

"The best part was the traveling with the team to games," she said. "It was great to get to know the team better and get to start playing games."

Vliet and Kemph each made the Commissioners Honor Roll and received 4.0 GPAs as freshmen. It certainly didn't hurt having each other to fall back on.

"Coming to SLU with a good friend definitely helped make the transition a little easier," Vliet said. "We are very comfortable with one another and that was a great thing to have when everything else around us was so new."

It made for an easier transition on the basketball floor, too.

"It was helpful to have someone on the court who I had played with before," Kemph said. "Because when you play with a new group of girls it's difficult to adjust to their style of play. Having Jenny helped playing at a new school more comfortable."

Vliet is a majoring marketing studying in the school's pre-law program. She is planning to to rush a business fraternity this fall (Delta Sigma Pi).

Kemph is an accounting and finance major and also plans to rushfor Delta Sigma Pi.

As members of the basketball team, they also do a lot of volunteer work throughout the year, such as participating in SLU's 'Make a Difference Day' and volunteering at the Ronald McDonald house.

This season will bring one twist for the longtime friends.

"Jackie and I aren't rooming together this year," Vliet said."We decided we should branch out a little bit. I'm rooming with Olivia Jakubicek this year (from Cary-Grove, a 2013 graduate). She's awesome and one of my really good friends on the team."

Kemph will room with sophomore Sadie Stipanovich, whose father Steve played for the Indiana Pacers.

Obviously, Kemph and Vliet will still see each other every day, like they have since the second grade.

And they will maintain the same competitive spirit.

"Our goal is always to compete for a championship," Vliet said. "We need to win the games we are supposed to win and upset a couple teams along the way. We should also be playing in the post season this year."

Kemph said her goals are to keep improving as a team and compete for an A-10 championship. "We also would like to beat the teams we are supposed to beat and make it to the post season," she added.

Things haven't changed much for two of Meadows' all-time finest athletes (Vliet also played volleyball while Kemph played tennis and soccer).

It's just that their basketball games now are played against teams in the upper echelen of collegiate basketball instead of high school.

"It's hard to compare, but the game is just faster in college," Vliet said. "And the girls are stronger, everyone you play against was a star on their high school team so there is rarely a weak link.

"Playing in college is a much bigger commitment and it's pretty much a year round thing, but it's definitely worth it. I love the girls I play with and can't wait to see what we will do this year."

Kemph said playing in college is a lot more time consuming than high school. "It seems more intense to me mostly because of the time you spend preparing for games," Kemph said. "College basketball is a yearlong commitment."

Lil' Cougar Clinic

The Conant Co-Ed Cheerleading Program, which finished second in the state this year, is hoping to draw the local community athletes to its clinic run by coaches Amanda and Christina Schweinebraten. This clinic is open to kindergarten to eighth graders. For more information along with the online registration page go to www.tinyurl.com/lilcougarfall2015

Registration and payment deadline is Oct. 4 with activities taking place that week including the varsity football game on Friday, Oct. 9 vs. Schaumburg.

Women's soccer

Lewis senior Maggie Moran (Rolling Meadows) had an assist in the Flyers' 3-0 win over Alderson Broaddus in a nonconference game at Lewis Stadium.

Moran also had an assist in the Flyers' 1-0 season-opening victory over Saginaw Valley State.

She made a run out wide to the keeper's right. She then played the ball back in front of the goal and found Meg Carmody on a sliding shot to the right side of the net with 13 seconds remaining in the match.

Women's tennis

Augustana junior Lauren Goggin (Buffalo Grove) was second at No. 1 singles at the Whitewater 'Warhawk Invitational.'

Goggin (4-1) beat Dana Dray of Illinois Wesleyan in the quarterfinals at No. 1 and then beat Brittany Goebel of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the semifinals. She lost to Gabi Kitchell of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the championship match.

Her sister Dana Goggin (Buffalo Grove) and senior Aileen MacDonald (Mundelein) combined to take second place at No. 1 doubles.

Dana Goggin and MacDonald were playing together for the first time this season.

Men's cross country

Augustana senior Ethan Koch (Prospect) took third place in the 6,000-meters run (19:18.8) at Western Illinois University's Early Bird Invite at Spring Lake Park. The Vikings won the event.

Football

Augustana senior quarterback Sam Frasco (Prospect) broke Ken Anderson's 47-year old school record for total offense but Augustana fell 60-49 to Albion at Lindberg Stadium in a game that saw an amazing 13 lead changes.

Frasco accounted for 469 yards (218 rushing and 251 passing) and 7 touchdowns (4 rushing and 3 passing) in the loss.

In Week 1, Frasco completed 18-of-34 passes for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns while also rushing 106 yards and two additional TDs on 13 carries as the Vikings topped Mount St. Joseph 42-39 in Rock Island.

Defensively, senior Frank Kalble (Hersey) and junior Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove) were Augustana's leading tacklers, with 11 and 10, respectively. Asquini had 3 tackles for loss, a sack and a pass break up. Kalble also broke up a pass and recorded 2 tackles for loss.

• Illinois Wesleyan quarterback Jack Warner (Hersey) threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Javorka with 27 seconds left before half to put the Titans ahead to stay in a 49-14 nonconference rout over Alma at Tucci Stadium.

Warner completed 21 of 25 attempts for 237 yards and 2 touchdownss, both to Javorka. The Titans amassed 583 yards of total offense.

Women's golf

Carthage junior Emily Santucci (Schaumburg) shot a 87-88-174 as Lady Red set five school records in winning the Carthage "Shootout on the Border" at the Bristol Oaks Country Club in Bristol, Wis.

Women's cross country.

Augustana junior Mollie Dalton (Conant) turned in a 21st-place finish (15:49.9) at the 4K Flyer/Flames Women's cross-country Challenge at the Lewis Cross Country Course.

• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.