Twin Billing: Penfield sisters to battle each other at the net

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Two sisters, twins actually, Janie (left) and Carrie Penfield will face-off this weekend during the Doubletree Guest Suits Volleyball Classic. Janie is a member of Colorado State and Carrie plays for the UA.

Janie Penfield, Carrie's twin sister who is also a senior, is a right side hitter for No. 24 Colorado State and will try to deflect her twin's spikes all night long. Saturday's 7 p.m. match at McKale Center during the DoubleTree Guest Suites Classic marks the first time the sisters, and best friends, meet in regular season play.

The 19th-ranked Wildcats played the Rams (3-0) earlier this year in a spring exhibition match and Carrie, who was born five minutes before Janie, gained an edge as Arizona won.

"Everyone is always asking which one is better so it should be pretty exciting," Carrie said.

Coach Dave Rubio couldn't compare the twins because he hasn't seen enough of Janie and Colorado State coach Tom Hilbert expressed similar sentiments.

There aren't many differences though.

Carrie is hitting .300 and averaging 4.43 kills per game while Janie's hitting percentage is .420 with a 3.11 kill average. Both were named MVP's in their team's respective tournaments last weekend for their offensive efforts.

The twins, who turn 21 a week from Monday, also exhibit similar qualities off the court.

They are paternal but look identical, although Janie is a quarter inch taller than Carrie. In addition, the twins wear the same hair style and both have outgoing personalities.

"We realize that yeah, this is a once in a lifetime experience and whoever wins will have bragging rights forever, but we're not going to let any of this get away from the bond we have with each other," Janie said.

However, once Janie returned home from her tournament Sunday, she picked up the phone to begin a week of friendly trash talking.

"I called her up and left a message congratulating her for her MVP and asked her if she was ready to go? I told her it's MVP versus MVP," Janie said.

Carrie left a message of her own later in the week assuring Janie that she would be the twin who leaves McKale with a loss.

Although they are best friends, they chose to go their separate ways when it came time to begin their collegiate careers.

"Rather than compete against each other (on the same team) we wanted to be better friends," said Carrie, who played high school and club volleyball with Janie in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

"We realized the strength and opportunity that we would get to be individuals and establish ourselves as a single rather than "The Penfield Twins," Janie added.

Both Carrie and Janie play in a match before the twin showdown Saturday. Colorado State played San Diego last night at McKale in the classic's first match and Arizona (2-0) goes up against the Toreros Friday night at 7 p.m.

"This weekend is big because the competition is so good," Rubio said.

All three teams made the NCAA Tournament last season. In fact, Arizona defeated San Diego (1-0) in the first round in a sloppy match.

"They left the match thinking they should've beat us. We didn't play as well as we could have and I know it just killed them to know that they got us on an off night and didn't beat us," senior Stephanie Venne said.

Meanwhile, the Rams have not lost a single game this season after sweeping all three matches last weekend.

"We know we have to step up this weekend because the competition is much better but we're ready to play some good people," Hilbert said.

And the Penfield twins are ready to go up against one another and try for a second straight tournament MVP title.

"Carrie ended up playing very well (last spring) but you never know who will come out more fired up in these situations," Rubio said.

"Everyone is looking forward to the match," Hilbert added. "The greatest thing about it is that it gives both of them an opportunity to celebrate how good they are at volleyball regardless of what the score says."