Daniel Block said his twin daughters always suggested they did not want to go to the same school until they visited Syracuse.

Linley and Becca Block weren’t always recruited together either. And they didn’t always get along, getting in fights often throughout their high school days together.

The moment when they decided to play together didn’t come until the ride back home from the Block sisters’ first collegiate recruiting tour, with then-SU assistant coach John Battaglino.

‘We went out, they did the tour with then-assistant coach John Battaglino,’ Daniel said. ‘And on the ride home I asked them what they thought, and they both said, ‘That’s where I want to go.”

Now Linley, who is a defender and midfielder, and Becca, a defender, have both played in every game this season for the Orange. Both made their collegiate debut in a game last season against Colgate on Feb. 19.

Like their father said, it wasn’t always a guarantee they would be playing on the same field for the same team.

The two sisters played high school lacrosse at The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Mass., and on the national level with a team that represented lower New England. Battaglino, like other coaches on the Blocks’ radar at the time, insisted the twins weren’t being brought in as a packaged deal.

‘Syracuse called us, I think July 1 — when coaches can first call you,’ Linley said. ‘And (Battaglino) had asked us to come as soon as we could, so we went to Syracuse before we visited any other schools. Both my sister and I just said we really liked it, and we committed here.’

Outside of a mid-March Florida vacation that kept the couple from games against Maryland and Towson last month, Daniel and the twins’ mother, Denise, have attended all but two games on the Syracuse schedule this season.

Denise played for Towson in college and introduced lacrosse to her daughters. The twins — who are two of four daughters in the family that all grew up as athletes — emerged from her teaching and have been playing since fifth grade.

Though Daniel said both Becca and Linley are equally competitive, they are different. He described Becca as the more emotional of the two.

‘They are twins. They’re both gifted athletically, but they’re different people,’ he said.

Becca ranks third on the team with 15 draw controls. Linley, who is the older of the twins by one minute, has started six games this year and has seen increased playing time following the injury to senior defender Lindsay Rogers.

The twin teammates are finding a different experience now that they are out of high school. Becca said they are more mature.

In high school, the twins would fight often, fights that would get physical, Becca said. Many times, the fights concerned things that had nothing to do with lacrosse.

‘But now in college, it’s like a lot more serious,’ Becca said. ‘It’s a different level. We get along much better now. We clearly don’t get in physical fights in practice.’

The two may not have originally pictured themselves playing alongside each other at the college level, but they have clearly grown to appreciate being at Syracuse together.

After making frequent trips to Syracuse to see his daughters play, Daniel described the five-and-a-half to six-hour drive from Stratham, N.H., to Syracuse as ‘doable.’ He was relieved to find out the two picked a school that was in the Northeast.

And he was relieved they picked a place where he could make those ‘doable’ trips to see them play every game.

‘Even though they’re only sophomores, we know at some point it’s all going to end,’ Daniel said. ‘We enjoy the camaraderie as parents, and we enjoy watching them compete. We don’t want to miss games unless we absolutely have to.’

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Published on April 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm