By Caley Breese
Being able to share the accomplishment of winning Regionals with teammates can be a very rewarding experience. Being able to share it with your twin sister, however, is an indescribable feeling. That’s exactly what happens when twin sisters Karlie and Kathryn Allen compete together.
Seniors Karlie and Kathryn hail from Cam idge, Maryland where they attend North Dorchester High School. They’ve each been members of the volleyball and tennis teams since their freshman year, as well as played two years of varsity basketball for the Eagles.
“Our older sister played a lot of sports,” Kathryn explains. “She played tennis, so she wanted us to play tennis. And then volleyball started freshman year at our school. We just thought we’d try a new sport.”
In addition to playing tennis, volleyball, and basketball, Karlie and Kathryn also swam for 10 years, played soccer, and lacrosse. It’s no doubt they keep busy.
“It’s hard,” Karlie laughs. “We have to set time to study and play, so it was very complicated at times, especially with AP classes.”
“But our coach [said], ‘school comes first,’” Kathryn adds. “So, if we had schoolwork, we would do that first before practice.”
Karlie and Kathryn both hold a weighted GPA of 4.1 and are both on the Exceptional Honor Roll at North Dorchester. Additionally, they are both members of the National Honor Society, where Karlie serves as Parliamentarian and Kathryn as President.
In addition to their academic awards, the Allen sisters also have several athletic awards, including second-team All-Conference in tennis, receiving second place at Regionals in tennis their sophomore year, and then coming back to win Regionals in tennis their junior year. They also earned a trip to States in their sophomore and junior year, as well.
“It felt good,” Kathryn says. “We were the first people in our school to make it to States for tennis so it felt really awesome.”
Karlie and Kathryn are a force to be reckoned with on the court, whether it’s playing doubles or singles. Their success with tennis is well-deserved, as the girls work hard on a daily basis practicing, as well as playing on a recreational team.
“We play tennis almost every day,” Kathryn explains. “We have lessons—two hour lessons—at least once a week. And then we just hit around with our teammates on other days.”
Karlie and Kathryn knew they wanted to work together on a team because of the strong connection they share; however, it can be challenging as any other teammates would admit.
“We knew we could work well together,” Kathryn explains. “We could practice together whenever we wanted, so we had more of a connection than playing with somebody else.”
Karlie laughs, adding, “It can be frustrating. We argue sometimes, but usually we can cool each other down and work well together.”
Both Karlie and Kathryn are interested in continuing their tennis careers in college, and are considering Salisbury University. Karlie explains that she would love to continue her collegiate career with her sister because she loves accomplishing something big with someone she’s close with. Kathryn enjoys the idea of playing tennis year-round and building new friendships.
These twins have similar goals and really have a powerful connection on and off the court.
