It all started in 1983 when Mark Vollenweider signed to play on the offensive line for the Baker University football team. Within his first two weeks at college, he met his future wife Melissa, who was a cheerleader for the Wildcats.
Mark would go on to help Baker make an appearance in the NAIA football national championship game in 1986, while Melissa became the president of Delta Delta Delta sorority. The couple both graduated in 1987, got married, gave birth to three children and the rest is history. Or is it?
If you take a closer look at their family, you might think the Vollenweiders actually bleed Orange.
When it came time for the first of Mark and Melissa’s children to pack her bags and head to college, it was obvious what school she must attend.
“I came up for BU Preview to kind of get a feel for college life, and that’s what did it in for me,” senior Brittany Vollenweider said. “I really liked just being apart of campus before I was ever on campus. Everyone was welcoming, just like the normal Baker tradition.”
That Baker tradition would become custom for the next two Vollenweiders as well.
Not only are Cari and Kelsey identical twins, they are also freshmen at the university. The twins have chosen to follow in their parents’ footsteps and also in Brittany’s as they signed to play on the Baker softball team with their older sister.
When describing their experience at Baker so far, Cari and Kelsey spoke almost in unison, as twins seem to do. They both find comfort in the school, calling it “home,” and have taken a liking to playing collegiate softball with Brittany.
“It’s really different because we’ve never all been on the same team,” Cari said. “It’s nice playing with them, because they are always there to help me out and keep me from getting mad or angry…”
Kelsey went on to finish Cari’s thought by saying, “They push me to do better. They help me with the little things, like keeping me from being a perfectionist. They let me know it’s okay to make mistakes and they help me keep my head up.”
Head softball coach Matt Windle thinks the Vollenweider clan “comes from a great family” and is pleased to have them involved in the program.
“It brings an interesting dynamic with one being a set of twins,” Windle said. “We’re trying to give them all an identity and not just the ‘Vollenweider sisters.’ They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, though, so they are pretty good about pushing each other. And sibling rivalry never hurts.”
While it may not seem like Brittany, Cari and Kelsey share too many differences, they are all quick to say that their personalities are distinct from each other indeed.
The twins both chimed that they are “laid back” compared to their older sister, but Cari added, “Brittany’s more serious on and off the field. Kelsey and I are more relaxed, but we’re exact opposites.”
“If you put (Cari and Kelsey) together, into one body, it would be the absolute perfect person,” Brittany said. “They are extremely different. Kelsey is the artist. If she didn’t have to function with a watch or calendar, she wouldn’t. And Cari is an accounting major … she wants things done the right way the first time, no questions asked.”
From a coach’s point of view, Windle sees Brittany as being independent whereas the twins have been living in their older sister’s shadow.
“I think they are still working on breaking out of their shells,” Windle said. “Cari is more introverted while Kelsey, as a catcher, is used to being loud and talking.”
Although Windle may find it easy to distinguish the sisters’ personalities, literally separating the twins on the field comes as a major struggle.
“We have to do things in practice to force them to split up so they’re not playing catch with each other, or they’re not doing drills with each other,” Windle said. “We have to make it a point to say the sisters can not be together when we split up into groups.”
As far as self-reliance goes for each of the sisters, Brittany thinks the fact that Cari and Kelsey are twins has certainly affected the difference in outlooks.
“They’ve always had each other,” Brittany said. “They’ve never really had to step out of their comfort zone too much even when they came to college, where for me it was like, ‘drop Brittany off and she can figure it out for herself.’”
Now, was the sisters’ choice to come play softball for Baker just a coincidence? Or was it a part of their parents’ master plan? Maybe they really do bleed Orange.
“When my parents told me about Baker, they said that it would be nice for me to see a different style of campus than other visits that I had been on,” Brittany said. “After that they didn’t say a word.”
The twins agree that Mark and Melissa gave them a little nudge in the Wildcats direction, but allowed them to keep their minds open.
“They gave us the option to choose where we wanted to go, but Baker just seemed like the best fit,” Kelsey said.
But wait, the Vollenweider family tree isn’t done growing at Baker yet. Their cousin, Lizzie Stover of Olathe Northwest High School, has also decided to come play softball for the Wildcats next year.
Initially, Windle was concerned that there might be too much family on one team until he realized that having the relatives will only increase the team’s ability to bond.
“Of all the teams I’ve coached at Baker, I don’t think there’s ever been an issue where a team hasn’t been comfortable with each other,” Windle said. “I think we do a good job of creating that sort of atmosphere here, but having Lizzie and the Vollenweiders will just add another level to it.”
Cari and Kelsey are looking forward to playing with their cousin, who they think is “witty, smart, sarcastic and fun.”
As for this year, Brittany is excited to have the opportunity to spend her senior season on the field with Cari and Kelsey.
“It’s been really hard to get used to seeing them so much after not seeing them for four years, but it’s definitely a worthwhile experience,” Brittany said. “I think it will be the best season we’ve had at Baker yet.”
