Xavier twins share love of tennis

CEDAR RAPIDS - While the girls' tennis team started formal practices a few weeks ago, senior twins Claire and Jeanne Bouchard prepared for this season early with the 60-day insanity workout most mortals would never be tough enough to try.

Both girls started tennis at age 10, inspired by their mother who showed them the game. Since then, they have taken lessons with trainers together and separately, developing a natural feel for the game.

Everyone has heard stories about how some twins share supernatural connections, like being able to read each other's minds or feel each other's pain. But while they may not have super powers, what they do have is a super feel for each other's game.

'We have been playing together for so long that I know what Claire will most likely do in a given situation,” Jeanne said.

That sort of advantage must feel almost like a superpower to their opponents who usually have not had the advantage of playing along side their doubles partner since an early age.

As they have gotten older, the girls have gotten busier, adding speech, theater, show choir and coaching 'Girls on the Run.” But they still make time to play the sport they love a few days a week, all year long.

'When we play, we have to have fun and make each other laugh,” Claire said. 'We can't be mad at each other, so if people watch us we are almost always laughing and having fun.”

A varsity tennis team consists of six players who all compete in both singles and doubles matches. For singles, the girls are numbered by their coaches one through six and matched up with the opposing team. For doubles, a coach can reorder the lineup into three groups of doubles, using the same match making process as with singles. That is nine total matches, so whichever team wins five or more takes the meet.

On a team that is returning five varsity players, Claire and Jeanne look to fill the first slot for doubles, along with the second and third spots for singles behind fellow senior Allison Jasper.

This year, the sisters hope to join Jasper among the state's upper echelon, along with the rest of their team at the state tournament. Their goals are not a secret.

'Our goal is to win state doubles and hopefully win state with our team,” Jeanne said.

Their journey has officially begun.