Olentangy Orange High School’s Anna Sanford knew she and her sister Alle only had one shot at making their dream of winning the Division I girls tennis state doubles title a reality. With that shot, the Pioneers doubles team left very little to chance. The Olentangy Orange High School doubles team defeated Rocky River’s Alex Riegelsberger and Lucy Grierson, Canfield’s Hannah Cianciola and Ashley Kaleel and Toledo Notre Dame Academy’s Alicia Nahhas and Teagan McNamara by identical 6-0, 6-0 scores in the first three rounds of the state tournament, held Oct. 18 at Ohio State’s Outdoor Varsity Tennis Facility and Oct. 19 at the Elysium Tennis Center. The Sanfords then closed out their run with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Cincinnati Sycamore’s Alexa Abele and Maggie Skwara in the title match. The sisters’ run to the title marked the lowest number of games a champion has given up in the Division I state doubles tournament in the 2000s. “We’ve watched (DeSales’) Kim My Li and My Linh Li (the 2009 Division II state champions) and (New Albany’s) Cristina and Francesca Di Lorenzo (the 2012 Division I state champions) go through this as sisters,” Alle says. “It looked like such a fun experience. We thought going through it and doing the same thing would be amazing.” “Alle and I completely know each other’s games,” Anna adds. “We’re very close and it’s easy to apply that (chemistry) to tennis. We know how to help each other along if we miss a shot or something.” The Sanfords title was the third consecutive Division I doubles title for central Ohio. Since 2003, players from Columbus have won 12 (seven Division I titles and five Division II championships) out of the 22 doubles titles in Division I and Division II but captured only six singles championships (four in Division I and two in Division II) during the same time period. However few have marched through the state tournament as easily as the Sanfords. The Orange doubles team didn’t lose a set in the sectional, district or state tournaments. During the regular season, the two anchored the Pioneers’ singles lineup with Anna playing first singles and Alle competing at second. However Orange coach Matt Rutherford says there was never a doubt the two were going to pair up for the postseason. Winning the tournament the way the Sanford sisters did caught Rutherford completely off guard. “By no means were we expecting them to roll through the draw sheets like they did,” Rutherford says. “That was a big surprise. They played their very best tennis with each passing match. “They were very good as singles players, but even the best singles players in the world sometimes have a tough time playing doubles. It requires so much teamwork and communication. There were times when they acted like sisters and they didn’t communicate well but at the end of the day, communication’s one of their strengths.” Sister acts aren’t that uncommon when it comes to doubles. Since 2003 seven sets of sisters have won either the Division I or II state doubles titles. Last year, the Di Lorenzo sisters defeated Dublin Jerome’s Sarah Stein and her sister Emma 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to win the Division I doubles title. Brothers however rarely win doubles titles. During the same time frame, only one set brothers, Watterson’s Philip and Chris Diaz in 2008, won a state title. Rutherford talks about how the Sanfords’ differing personalities and strengths on the court helped fuel their run. “Sometimes you have a 12th grader and a ninth grader and they’re in different worlds emotionally,” Rutherford said. “Alle can be goofy and giggly but she packs incredible firepower in her game. She is an incredible competitor. Over the last couple of years, Anna has developed into a very mature, thoughtful player. She uses her mind and her physical power. “Alle isn’t afraid to swing for the fences while Anna plays the right shot at the right moment. Sometimes you need finesse. That was something Anna was teaching Alle. Great players don’t have just one or two shots. They have all the shots.” Alle can’t imagine playing doubles with anyone else. “I’ve always gotten along with her but our bond has grown stronger since we train and do a lot of stuff together,” Alle says. “I don’t want to say she bosses me around but at times she acts like the typical older sister. As a freshman, I was struggling with some nerves but my sister kind of helped me keep it together.” Anna had been to the state tournament as a singles player twice before, losing both times to Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame’s Sandy Niehaus 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 in a 2011 quarterfinal and 6-0, 6-1 in a 2010 quarterfinal. However, a variety of circumstances led Anna to skip playing high school tennis her junior year. In April, 2012, she sustained a broken fibula in her leg, which required surgery to correct. She had to stay away from the tennis courts for over two months as she recovered. Anna decided to forgo playing high school tennis her junior year to focus on training and to compete in some fall tournaments. “It was very difficult decision to make,” she says. “I loved being on the team and representing my school but I really wanted to make sure I kept improving. It definitely fueled me for my senior year.” Rutherford remembers talking with the two right before they took the court for their first-round match of the state tournament. “One of the things Doug DiRosario (Rutherford’s assistant coach and the Sanfords’ long time club coach) and I kept talking about was appreciating the moment,” he says. “There are so many players that would love to have this opportunity to make state and to play with their sister. “The last thing I said to them was ‘If you want to win a state title, this is where it starts. Let’s make some history here.’” After receiving the state championship plaque, Anna thought about how lucky she and her sister were. “(Winning the state title) was amazing,” she says. “We knew we had one year to do it. It was great we got the opportunity to play together and we’re excited we got to win it all.”