‘Twin Towers’ to ‘Sassy Sisters,’ now champions

The first time Beyonce Bea and Rebecca Boylan played tennis together, head coach Angie Watts saw something special.

Both Washougal High School Panthers stood 6-feet tall and had an impressive wingspan. Their first nickname developed out of those natural traits. Together, they were the “twin towers.”

Then, Watts noticed the way they communicated on the court. The back-and-forth banter sounded like two sisters. They teased and challenged each other, but they also had each other’s back. And so, Watts started calling them the “sassy sisters.”

“We’ve just become really close through volleyball, basketball and now tennis,” Bea said. “We’re kind of the same person in what we want, our goals and our personality.”

After beating four opponents in straight sets May 12 and 13, at the Mint Valley Racquet Club in Longview, Bea and Boylan earned a new nickname — sub-district champions.

“We really wanted to get first,” Boylan said. “We both just had that mindset that we were going to do it. We were going to give it our all.”

Boylan said the two Panthers got a little tangled up in the quarterfinals and semifinals, but they found a way to untie the knots and break free.

Surprisingly, to the both of them, the finals match turned out to be a synch.

“We got them frustrated,” Bea said.

“We came out with a lot of fire,” Boylan added. “We were really playing our game.”

“It was probably our best match of the tournament,” Bea concluded.

Three other Washougal Panthers will join Bea and Boylan at the 2A district tennis tournament Friday and Saturday, in Olympia, Washington.

Kassidy Baldwin finished in fourth place in the sub-district single’s bracket. Rylee Erdwins and Emily Johnson took fourth place in doubles.

“It’s really awesome that many of us made it,” Boylan said. “It means we’re growing and getting better. It’s exciting because we will be back next year.”

Bea and Boylan got to district together last year, but only won one game. This time, they’re determined to make it to state.

“We don’t know what the competition looks like up there, but we know we can compete with anybody,” Bea said. “If we can play to the best of our ability, hopefully we can get to the top.”