News File Photos Sisters Audrey Decker and Karlin Decker have held down the two doubles slot for Alpena High this spring on the tennis court. Karlin Decker has played for Alpena for two seasons while Audrey is a rookie but both sisters said they enjoy playing together as a team.

ALPENA — Since the beginning of the 2022 season, Karlin and Audrey Decker have dominated the two doubles slot on the Alpena High girls tennis team.

Karlin, a senior, has played for Alpena for two seasons, while Audrey, a sophomore, is a rookie.

However, both girls first picked up a racquet when they were younger.

“We started playing when we were little. Real little.” Karlin said. “We took lessons, but then we broke up. I started playing again last year, and she [Audrey] started playing again this year.”

This season was the first time Audrey and Karlin have played together on a sports team, besides a brief stint with the Thunder Bay Basketball Association. When asked if she was inspired to join the Alpena team by her older sister, Audrey grinned ear-to-ear.

“One hundred percent.” Audrey said. “I saw her [Karlin] playing and it looked like a lot of fun. I enjoyed playing tennis so then I was like, ‘Hey! I know her…might as well play!'”

The girls believe they make a good team and their confidence has only grown during the season.

“We’ve lost to Petoskey, Traverse City…but it’s been close,” Karlin said. “We got smoked the first time we played them and then we played them again and scored like 5-7…so it was an improvement. And we’ve beat quite a few teams.”

Additionally, the Deckers think they are an even match. Audrey conceded to Karlin’s technical skills, but past duals have proven them to have quite similar abilities.

“Usually it is really close to even when we play each other,” Audrey said. “We both have our different strongsuits and different faults.”

While they give credit to Alpena coach Charlie Giordano and Aaron Pokorzynski at the APlex, both girls admit their biggest influence is their mom, Marga Decker.

“Our mom used to play tennis for a lot of years.” Audrey said. “She was captain of the tennis team and captain of the soccer team.”

“She teaches us a lot when we play with her.” Karlin agreed.

The sisters said that their parents enjoy watching them play, and when it comes to sibling rivalry outside of tennis, there doesn’t seem to be much of one.

“I hate her.” Audrey joked.

“Honestly, we get along very well.” Karlin said. “I don’t care if she does something better than me…most of the time.”

Both girls are very active students: Audrey is a member of the school’s new Climate Team and Karlin is a member of the Youth Advisory Council and DECA. Both sisters also participate in Science Olympiad.

As the 2022 season comes to a close, the Decker sisters are preparing to take their next steps. Audrey plans to continue playing for Alpena next year, while Karlin plans to attend Northern Michigan University to study forensic biochemistry.

When asked if she had any advice for her younger sister, Karlin said, “Enjoy the time. Don’t rush it. It’ll all be fun.”