Sisters Ashley and Katelyn Vander Tuig had no idea that come 2015 they would be playing collegiate volleyball together.

The junior middle blocker and freshman setter had never even played club or high school ball on the same team.

It sounds as though the two are always finding out new things about their relationships with each other and with their teammates both on and off the gym floor. Ashley just found out two weeks ago that head and assistant coaches Jen and Burdette Greeny refer to them as “Slurpee,” because Katelyn wears the number seven and Ashley 11.

“That was never a thought – I don’t know why,” Ashley said of the possibility of playing volleyball with Katelyn at WSU. “And for a while she had wanted to do track in college, so I didn’t even know if we were going to be playing the same sport.”

Three years Katelyn’s elder, Ashley took a different route in arriving at WSU last fall. Originally signing with Azusa Pacific University in her native state of California, she quickly discovered that she could compete at a higher level of competition.

“Not really,” Ashley said of whether or not her dad’s four years of playing basketball had anything to do with her decision to sign with Azusa. “That didn’t play much of a role in it. I just at the time wanted a smaller, less intense school and a Christian school as well – that was a big part of the decision. And when I got there and was playing at that level, I realized that I wanted to play at a higher level. It was rough at the beginning; so much faster, the hitters are so much better. But the speed was the hardest thing to adjust to.”

Correspondingly, Ashley’s experience with her former college was left out of Katelyn’s recruiting process. There was a certain sense of security for Katelyn, though Ashley had to make the tough choice of refraining from imposing her values.

“It definitely helped me make my decision of coming to WSU because she could tell me how great of a program it was and I knew how happy she was,” Katelyn said. “Everything seemed to be working really well for her and it definitely gave me the opportunity of coming here. It opened new doors for me.”

 “Honestly I was shocked,” Ashley added of her younger sister’s decision to sign with WSU. “It was kind of a fast decision I guess. She was looking at some other places and then our coaches had just started talking to her and then she just decided like that week. So it was a surprise. I had never expected to play with her, but obviously I’m really glad that I am. It’s just never something I had thought about before.”

“We really needed a setter, and they had known that my little sister was a setter. She came up and played a tournament in Spokane and they watched her there,” Ashley said.

Really, the narrative of them both ending up playing collegiate volleyball together is not tied to a concrete sequence of events. Things just fell into place for them both. It has since certainly paid dividends for Head Coach Jen Greeny.

The team’s block has been one of its strongest attributes this fall. Last weekend in matches against California and No. 6 Stanford, the Cougars recorded a combined 20 blocks. Eight of those came from Ashley, who saw more time in the rotation due to her 6-foot-2-inch frame and long arms.

Watch a match closely and you’ll see setter Katelyn sitting next to Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Burdette Greeny diligently taking stats for each set. Learning this year from starter Haley MacDonald and waiting in the wings, it is looking like the Greenys will have another Vander Tuig to insert into the starting lineup immediately after the older graduates.

They are different players without a doubt, and it is reflected in both their respective journeys from northern California to Pullman but also in how they each perform. Off the court, they become best friends. On it, they are no different from any of their other teammates.

“We’re all teammates, we’re not any different from any other teammates,” Katelyn said. “People will always say ‘I forget that you two are sisters,’ especially on the court.”

Ashley said she puts forth a conscious effort to view Katelyn just like everyone else during games; so much so that the two of them work to not be quite as perceptive of the other.

“Well it’s nice that we’re not in the same position at all, so we don’t get compared all that much,” Ashley said. “But I’ve just noticed sometimes that she’ll be doing things on the court that if it were anyone else, it wouldn’t really bother me, but since it’s her I’ll be like, ‘C’mon, you can do better.’ Honestly, I just treat her like any other teammate.”

Katelyn had her own take on how they work together and separate family from athletics as well.

“She is really good at reading the game and is pretty level-headed about it all. She just knows volleyball really well so it’s nice for her to be able to help me. Every once in a while she’ll be like, ‘You know, do this,’ and I’ll just have to not get frustrated (about it) because she’s my sister. Overall it’s been good, but I think just knowing that I can take my anger out easier on her just because she’s my sister – I can get frustrated with her easier so I just have to watch that.”

They never expected to play together, but both sisters and their coaches have reaped the benefits of them ending up at the same university.

“So much fun,” Ashley said of being able to play for the same team. “More like outside of volleyball and the practices- just getting to hang out with her every day. I was gone for three years and didn’t really get to see her very much. We hang out like every night. She comes over to my place a lot. We don’t do much – just chill and listen to music.”

They are a support for each other, just as their places on the team have proven to be. As Ashley described how her sister is still that same “weird and fun” person her family knows her as at WSU, Katelyn said Ashley’s greatest attributes have never left her.

“She’s always there and willing to help other people – really hardworking,” Katelyn said. “She has to get surgery on her ankle in January but she’s still playing, and I think you can see that in volleyball and off the court. She’ll just fight through.”

Supporting one another in their career paths thus far and proud to call themselves sisters and teammates at the same time, the two still realize that their contributions to Cougar volleyball will ultimately be judged on an individual basis. That is not to say, however, that leaving a combined legacy is out of the realm of possibility. Such a rare and unique opportunity is in front of them, and both Ashley and Katelyn have fully taken advantage of it.

“It’s just so much more meaningful,” Ashley said. “Playing volleyball in college is such a special experience that not very many people get, but even fewer people get to do it with their sister. So it’s just really cool to be able to do that alongside her.”

It is meaningful indeed, and they will continue looking at their time here as such.

“We are seen not as sisters on the court but I want (us) to be remembered as being hardworking and people that gave everything for this program,” Katelyn said.