April 6, 2006

"We're like best friends." The words had hardly left her mouth before the other sister jumped in to correct her. "No, we are best friends."

Both blonde, tall, and blue-eyed, the Lucy sisters could easily be mistaken as twins. Not only do they bear a striking resemblance to each other, but they are also known to finish each other's sentences, get caught up in their own inside jokes, and read each other's minds in an ESP-type way. "We grew up so close together that we intrinsically know what the other is thinking," explains Marissa, a current junior on Villanova women's lacrosse team. Her two-and-a-half years younger - but two-and-a-half inches taller - sister Taylor agrees: "if you don't have a sister it's really hard to explain."

While Marissa came to Villanova in the fall of 2003, younger sister Taylor is a newcomer to the program.

With Taylor back in Ocean View, Delaware, Marissa began making a name for herself at Villanova over the past two years. Besides sharpening her defensive skills on the field, Marissa has been working towards an English major and a business minor. After spending the fall 2005 semester completing a marketing/journalism internship with a company called Surf Camp Australia in Sydney, Australia (through Boston University's internship program), Marissa has solidified her plans to explore the broadcasting or advertising aspects of the media relations field after graduation.

Although she did not plan on going to the same school as Marissa, Taylor decided to join the Wildcats after her official visit in the fall of 2004. While she was excited to team up with Marissa again, she made the choice independently of her sister: "I just had this feeling. I loved Villanova. I loved the team and the feeling I got on this campus. I had to come here, and that was regardless of the fact that Marissa was here."

Taylor Lucy

Both sisters agree that the time apart this past fall, while Marissa studied abroad, helped to ease Taylor's transition into college. Marissa believes that it "really was the best thing that could have happened" for the both of them. She's glad that Taylor has created a niche for herself, even if it means that she is occasionally identified as "Taylor's sister" around campus - something she's not used to. After being referred to as "Marissa's sister" for years, the younger Lucy finds particular satisfaction that the Marissa-free first semester allowed her to "settle in on my own, have my own friends and get to know the team."

While their mother, Nancy Lucy, was worried about how her daughters would adjust to being on the same campus, she has been pleasantly surprised with how happy Marissa and Taylor have been together.

Marissa and Taylor believe that their experience as teammates this semester has only helped to strengthen the bond that grew out of their childhood in Ocean View. As the only children of Dan and Nancy Lucy - and the only girls in their neighborhood - the sisters spent most of their time pursuing "genuinely similar interests," such as skiing, horseback riding, and surfing. While they have separate lives apart from each other, they love that most of their interests coincide. "We really do do everything together," says Marissa. The girls can even be found as patrolling the Bethany beaches together as lifeguards during the summer months.

The girls attribute these shared interests and inspirations to the family atmosphere which their parents worked to create. After Marissa picked up her first stick in 5th grade and joined the Beach Lacrosse Team, with her sister quickly following suit, lacrosse quickly became - as Nancy puts it - something that the "active" Lucy family "could do together."

Since lacrosse was new to the area, Dan took an active step in bringing the first traveling club lacrosse team - Laxsation - to the area. After going undefeated in their first season (1999-2000), he helped lead the team (and both his daughters) to a 70-1 record over Marissa's four years of high school. Besides driving two hours to Annapolis, Maryland every Sunday to play in indoor leagues in the winters, the Lucys drove to numerous weekend tournaments during the summers. His daughters are very thankful that he did, for his dedication helped ignite their passion for the sport and made them realize that they wanted to continue to play on the collegiate level.

Marissa Lucy

As Marissa says, "The reason he got involved was because it was fun for him, and something for us to get involved in." Both, too, are thankful that their mother provided a constant supporting presence on the sideline.

That constant supporting presence is still there, as Mr. and Mrs. Lucy rarely miss a game. The girls know that their parents love watching them play on the same team, a sentiment that both Dan and Nancy echo. As Dan described, "seeing the two of them on the field together is a parent's dream come true."

While they played together through four years of club lacrosse and two years of high school sports (both the lacrosse and soccer seasons), both sisters agree that playing together at Villanova is special. For one thing, their positions are changed: after playing alongside of Marissa at the defensive end, Taylor has moved to the offensive end as a Wildcat.

Commenting that their on-field relationship has changed "because it's a new level of playing," Marissa said she almost cried during the first game of the season in a win against Howard. Not only were both sisters in the starting line-up, but Taylor scored her first collegiate goal: "I just remember her scoring and almost started crying because I got so excited. It's a confidence building thing. I am definitely proud of my little sister."

Taylor Lucy

Taylor also loves to describe how much Marissa inspires her: "I immediately looked for her after I scored. We feed off of each other. When she does something well, I get so excited and I want to do something well. She motivates me when she does well. And it's nice to have her there."

That isn't to say that the girls don't share a competitive nature. But as Marissa says, it's a "healthy competitive." Taylor added, "When we defend each other in drills it's really funny." Both agree that this competitiveness motivates them to work harder, especially because their closeness helps them to be more straightforward with each other when it comes to offering constructive criticism.

The girls are quick to point out that their relationship is merely a reflection of the close bonds they share with the rest of the women's lacrosse team. "Really, we're just one big team of sisters," says Marissa, "We play for each other." "Yeah," adds Taylor as she points to the girl sitting across from her, "this one just happens to be biological."