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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. - This year’s Conseil International du Sport Militaire, or CISM, Women’s Volleyball Championship, was held at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point’s Marine Dome, May 26- June 1. The Brazilian team won the gold, some may say their two athletes with matching last names had something to do with the win.
The two girls’ names are Michelle and Monique Marinho Pavao. They are identical twins, born just one minute apart and throughout the tournament proved they are both very strong volleyball players.
“It is the first time in my 10 years in CISM that I’ve seen identical twins in a team sport at a high stage such as CISM,” said Suba Saty, the Armed Forces Sports Secretariat and USA liaison to CISM.
“Having my sister on the team helps a lot,” said Monique, the older sister. “I help her out and she helps me out. While we have to learn what our teammates will do in certain situations, we already know exactly what each other will do when a ball is hit.”
Both girls have been playing for about 12 years and for both sisters, it’s their first CISM tournament.
“This is the first time we have been deployed from our units,” said Michelle. “We are both in the Brazilian Army and have not seen combat yet, however, the competition that we have seen here has been combat for us.”
Although the girls did not have starter positions, they often both racked up some playing time during their first CISM visit. The two scored a combined total of 34 points, and played in 15 out of 18 sets the Brazil team played.
According to Monique, outside of volleyball, the two hard hitting sisters enjoy just about all the same things; they both like the beach, shopping and hanging out with friends. They said the only thing that makes them different is one has a boyfriend.
“We are very honored to be playing for Brazil,” said Michelle. “We are enjoying the competition here at the CISM tournament and we can’t wait to finish this year and move onto the 2011 World Military Games. Brazil is hosting them and I am going to fight just as hard as I did this year to get onto the team. I am also going to try to get a starting spot, so I can blast the nets more next year.”
| Date Taken: | 06.01.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 06.24.2010 13:52 |
| Story ID: | 51902 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 933 |
| Downloads: | 123 |
This work, Brazilian twin sisters double up in CISM, by LCpl Cory D. Polom, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
