Elle Krikelis is a journalism student at ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism and is assigned to cover Mountain View High School for AZPreps365.com

MESA — Andjelina and Nikolina Djordjevich are two powerhouse players on Mountain View’s volleyball team, who just so happen to be twins and two of four sisters who have played volleyball for the Toros.

The Djordjevich twins are sophomores on Mountain View’s varsity volleyball team, and these girls have had a passion for the sport since they began playing at five years old, following in their older sister Tijana’s footsteps.

Tijana is the oldest of four girls in the Djordjevich family, and since graduating from Mountain View and volleyball a few years ago, her younger sisters Andjelina, Nikolina, and freshman Maja chose to follow in her footsteps.

“I look up to her a lot,” Nikolina said. “Whether it’s just academics or volleyball.”

Mountain View’s volleyball head coach Lee Golden loves having the Djordjevich twins on her team, but for even more than just their athleticism and skill.

Mountain View isn’t the only place where coach Golden knows these girls from. Golden has been training the twins on their club team, Arizona Storm, since they were 13.

“You know, you get sick of a coach after a while,” Golden said. “I’m just happy to see them continue to get better.”

Though it may seem like having the same coach for both your club and high school team sounds repetitive, Nikolina enjoys it for a multitude of reasons, one of those being that she believes she is a better player because of it.

“She knows what to expect of me, so it honestly pushes me to be a better player,” Nikolina said. 

Nikolina has been on the varsity squad since her freshman year, but Andjelina didn’t join until this year. According to coach Golden, Andjelina was not at the level needed for varsity.

Golden wanted Andjelina to get more practice and more playing time on JV last year, and it paid off during this year’s tryouts when it was obvious to Golden that Andjelina needed to be a part of the varsity team.

“She just kept proving herself in practice,” Golden said.  “It’s almost like I saw her bloom as a kid that I’ve known for a while, finally in that position where she felt confident.”

Both girls currently have a starting position on the varsity team, and their teamwork and presence on the court do not go unnoticed by Golden. Mostly, Golden is happy to see these girls that she’s coached for years continue to improve every day.

As for the twins, they love playing together. Both Andjelina and Nikolina love it when they play together because they feel like they can push each other more than maybe some other players would do. And, they have a lot of fun with it.

“My favorite part of playing with Nik is probably just blocking her,” Andjelina said jokingly. “If she really makes me mad at her, I can just go to practice and just target her.”

Both girls hope to continue playing volleyball in college and are excited for the upcoming club season since this winter will be their recruiting season.