Silverado tennis players and twin sisters Nicole, left, and Kristen Santero talk between matches. The twins, who are juniors, lost in the finals of the state doubles tournament the past two years.
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 | midnight
Silverado's Kristen Santero runs across the court to return the ball to her opponent during a tennis match at Silverado.
After finishing second at the state tennis tournament in girls doubles the past two years, Silverado's Santero sisters feel they are ready to overcome the final obstacle.
Junior twins Nicole and Kristen won't be paired together on a regular basis for the Skyhawks this fall until the postseason.
Still, the girls have continued to work on doubles in their free time in anticipation of a playoff run — this time, taking the top spot.
"It's working out OK for us because we're helping our team by playing singles but we still practice as doubles," Nicole Santero said. "We'll do whatever's best for the team but we also want to finally win at state."
Kristen Santero agreed it was frustrating to be so close to a state title and come away empty handed.
"Our freshman year it was fine because we didn't expect anything," she said. "It was great just to get that far. Our sophomore year we were expecting to win so that was tougher on us. Our opponents were really good but we still thought we could have won."
Silverado coach Mark Parantala said the sisters have a shot at reaching their goal as they've gained valuable experience the past two seasons.
"It doesn't surprise me that they've seen success because they work so well together," Parantala said. "They move around well and talk to each other. The biggest thing for any team is consistency. They need to work on doing the little things every match and minimizing mistakes."
The duo began playing in 2004 after being encouraged into the sport by their father when they couldn't decide on what to play. After a few months, they won their first youth doubles tournament and fell in love with tennis.
"It wasn't really our choice to play tennis but it worked out for us," Nicole Santero said.
Nicole Santero said they work well on the court because of their familiarity and their different styles of play.
"We're really pretty different when we play," Nicole Santero said. "Her backhand is really strong but my forehand is better. We even each other out. She's good at staying calm and staying positive but I tend to get more emotional. She keeps me from letting myself make mistakes."
With so much time spent together at home, school, practice and competitions some might think the sisters would crave alone time. But Kristen said it's exactly the opposite.
"We're like best friends," Kristen Santero said. "We like playing together and we play better when we're together. When we're not together it feels weird. We go places alone and it feels awkward. We love being around each other."
Jared Harmon can be reached at 990-8922 or [email protected].
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy