ORANGE, Calif. — Their jet black hair reflects off their silver rackets under the bright yellow sun shining on a hot spring day in Southern California. The front row partner speeds across the green courts chasing down the fuzzy green ball that has helped dictate their lives the last three years together. It takes a wild bounce and she misses the hit.

She lets out a small moan of frustration. Her doubles partner runs towards her to lift her head up, fist bump and reassure her. The same reassurances these teammates once did in their childhood bedrooms, and on the car ride to school are what carry them through the slug fest match. It is also a through line only these sisters turned doubles partners can share. 

This is the reality for Makaylee Dahms and Malina Dahms, sisters just 1.5 years apart in age, one year apart in school, and doubles partners on the Chapman University tennis team. Makaylee is the older sister, a senior studying Biological Sciences. Malina is the younger one and a junior studying Health Sciences. Makaylee hopes to become a doctor while Malina hopes to become a Physician Assistant. As if that was not impressive enough, they both have 4.0 grade point averages, and are the top doubles partners in the program. 

"This year especially has been so rewarding," Malina said. "We don't exchange many words. In doubles our connection is unspoken." 

Their unspoken connection is also what connects the siblings to a lineage unique to being a Chapman student athlete. Across football, swim and dive, soccer and tennis during the 2025-26 academic year alone, each roster has siblings who are athletes on the same team, or have a sibling on another team. But this duo is dynamic, in part because they play on the same court together during every match. 

In July 2025, newly minted Head Coach Evan Parry was hired to steer the ship of both the men's and women's programs. Prior to arriving at Chapman, Parry spent the majority of the last 25 years building up his tennis coaching career in the Inland Empire and at Riverside City College. In all his years coaching hundreds of athletes, he says he never recalls having two sisters play doubles together officially. He has trained his fair share of siblings, including the two sisters. The first day he sat down with them, he could feel their synergy.

"They made it all clear the day I met them how badly they wanted to support the program," Parry recalls. "They are humble yet ambitious." 

Malina is a more vocal team captain and Makaylee leads more by example. The two have become a stable place for teammates to turn to as Parry came in. They are a coach's dream outside the sport, specifically at the Division III level. They are currently doing research with Chapman's Biology Education Research Lab.

The duo spent part of winter intercession presenting at a conference called Saber West (Society of Biology Educational Research) at the University of California Irvine. The Dahms sisters devote the same discipline and energy to their training on court. Their passion for tennis developed later than some student athletes. They grew up mostly playing basketball competitively in San Diego.

In fact, Makaylee didn't join the tennis program until her sophomore season after Malina arrived on campus. She spent her freshman year recovering from a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) she suffered from a basketball game senior year of high school. After the injury, doctors told her she should try to avoid contact sports, but the competitive fire was still raging. She and her sister picked up their rackets and started training once again. With the pressure the sisters place on themselves in school, they saw the team as a community outside the classroom. 

"The team is one of the big reasons we come back. We are all genuinely friends," Makaylee said. "It feels like a support system and a group of friends we get the opportunity to see every day."

But don't confuse their friendly spirit off the court. The duo is about as competitive as they come. Women's tennis in the SCIAC is also some of the deepest in the nation. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is the top team in the nation and two other conference teams are in the top 30 nationally to date. The Panthers have also faced off against multiple nationally ranked top 10 teams. In almost every match, Parry points out one thing. 

"Those two girls are normally playing the longest in singles," he says. "Which is a good thing, because it means that they are still playing, still competing."

The Dahms credit their competitive spirit most to their 'team mascot' and good luck charms, their childhood dog Murphy and their parents Eric and Kathy Dahms. They both work as doctors down in San Diego. When Malina and Makaylee expressed interest in also working in medicine, one thing was clear: that apple did not fall far from the tree.

"I just make coming to all the matches a priority," Eric said. "I don't miss any matches, I don't really go on any other trips to ensure we can be here these few years."

Their parents support the team by bringing snacks and waters. When the Panthers win matches at their home court, they grab Murphy for the celebratory team photo. Then the parents take their daughters to dinner and take the 1.5 hour drive back home just in time to do it all again.

"Being able to watch my kids, who I love, play the sport they love, is just incredible, even when I do get nervous," Kathy said. "I just admire what they do, and how much they know about the sport." 

With senior day fast approaching for Makaylee, the days of the Dahms on court together are numbered. Makaylee spent the last four years also working as a Supplemental Instructor for introductory biology, volunteers at the local senior center, and she also gives tour of the Keck Center. Malina is also very involved on campus, working as a tutor on campus for students in a myriad of classes across the sciences. 

"We both care a lot about our athletics and our academics. Chapman allows us to pursue both," Malina says. "The environment at Chapman does not feel competitive. It feels more collaborative."

When Malina was deciding where to attend college, Makaylee put her tour guide skills to the ultimate test and gave her sister the official look at the school. As time would tell, it has more than worked out. The atmosphere is what drew both to Chapman and is the lineage that ties eight sets of siblings together this year alone. 

When asked what they've meant to Chapman, Parry had strong praise. 

"They are young ladies with big hearts and compassion for others," said Parry. "They are so driven and ambitious. The impact they have made on the program is huge."

That's the Dahms Duo— sisters by chance, doubles partners by choice.