TWICE THE TROUBLE : The Trenwith Sisters Are as Different as Their Games

UC Irvine tennis players Lola and Dina Trenwith often are mistaken for twins, but those who know them would never make that error.

Lola is three years older than Dina, and eons different in personality. But the sisters do have at least one striking similarity: both have been known to lose articles of clothing while playing tennis.

With Lola, it happened during a private lesson in hometown Santa Barbara with then-coach Larry Mousouris. Wearing a tennis dress that tied at the shoulders, Lola diligently worked on her serve, smacking balls over the net with machine-like precision.

“Excuse me, Lola,” Mousouris interrupted. “Don’t you think you better get dressed?”

Lola’s dress had come untied and fallen to her waist. She didn’t even notice.

“It was terrible,” Lola, 21, said. “I was standing there in my bra . . . and Larry’s the type to really rub it in, too.”

Dina, 18, had a similar experience, only in front of more than 1,000 spectators at a national junior competition.

She was playing doubles with a rather straight-laced partner when the Velcro fastener on her wrap-around skirt came undone. Her skirt fell to the ground, exposing her lacy tennis panties.

“I was trying to pick it up but it was all undone,” Dina said. “Everyone in the place was pointing at me and laughing. It was really embarrassing, but my tennis partner was more embarrassed than I was.”

But besides these little court incidents, Lola and Dina Trenwith are sisters taking their own paths.

UC Irvine Coach Doreen Irish even had concerns before recruiting Dina this season.

“I wasn’t sure if it would be a problem for either to have a sister on the team,” she said. “It’s been nothing but an advantage. The subject of the two playing doubles together hasn’t come up. They’re both just different personalities.”

Said their father, Brian Trenwith: “Lola is organized, dedicated and a hard-worker who loves tennis and school. Dina is more low-key in tennis but always looking for fun--she doesn’t have that same intense drive Lola has, but what a team player. She loves doubles.”

The Trenwiths also have different styles on the court. Lola prefers to stay on the baseline to force her opponent into a mistake. Dina is more apt to rush the net.

During matches, Lola is easy to spot, er, rather hear.

“She talks to herself when she makes mistakes,” Irish said. “She doesn’t just say one or two words, she talks in complete sentences.”

Said Brian Trenwith: “I’ve always thought if I could put Lola and Dina in a blender, I’d have the perfect tennis player.”

But the Trenwiths aren’t bad players the way they are, and as such, have provided UCI with some valuable talent. The Anteaters (13-11) are challenging Cal State Long Beach, Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara for the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. championship.

Lola plays No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles with partner Colleen Patton, the sister of UCI men’s tennis Coach Greg Patton. Dina plays No. 5 singles and teams with Haruko Shigekawa of Japan in either the No. 1 or No. 2 doubles.

Lola’s highest national junior ranking was 10th when she was 18. She is No. 6 in the Southern California women’s open division this year. Last season as a sophomore she was named UCI’s Most Valuable Player.

Dina, a freshman, is ranked 17th among junior players. She was the Channel League’s three-time Most Valuable Player at Santa Barbara High School.

Irish is happy to make a Santa Barbara connection, one that started three years ago with the signing of Lola.

“It was difficult to get players from the area,” she said. “And there’s a lot of talent up there.”

But Irish had an advantage when recruiting players from Santa Barbara High, which has one of the Southern Section’s best girls’ tennis programs. Greg Patton instructed Lola on the Santa Barbara city courts when she was 10 years old. That’s when Lola met Colleen Patton, who also was receiving lessons.

“Lola isn’t a woman with so much natural talent, but she works so hard,” Greg Patton said. “She’s an overachiever. She sets a goal and accomplishes it. Dina is probably more of a natural athlete.

“I remember when Lola was 10, she’d get so upset if she couldn’t do something right. She wore her emotions on her sleeve.”

Lola first enrolled at UCSB, but changed her mind and came to Irvine.

“I wanted to go to UCI because of Greg,” Lola said. “Colleen and I had known each other for years. We had won four CIF championships in a row. It also gave me a chance to be independent, away from home, but not too far.”

Dina followed Lola to UCI, but not because she does everything her sister does. They happen to be very close.

“I’m glad Dina came here,” Lola said. “We’ve always gotten along, but we’re becoming more of friends. It’s nice to have her on the team. We can turn to each other for personal help.”

Brian Trenwith said his daughters’ relationship is unusual.

“They’ve never had a fight or an argument,” he said. “They’ve had a remarkable relationship. I’m not like a doting parent, but I’m really happy about that.”

Tennis became a family affair for the Trenwiths after they moved from Vancouver, B.C. to Santa Barbara. Brian and his wife, Angela, were avid tennis players in England, but took a nine-year hiatus from the sport when they migrated to Canada. They discovered the warmth and beauty of Santa Barbara on a vacation in Southern California, and moved there the following year.

“When we played over here, the girls started dragging tennis rackets with us when they were 4 and 6,” he said.

Once Lola graduated from the city courts to the United States Tennis Assn. junior circuit when she was 12, she started taking the game seriously.

She hopes to become a professional player in Europe after she graduates. Though her chances of making it big on the pro tour are slim, she wants to remain in tennis either by playing or coaching.

Dina, however, most likely will discontinue competitive play after college.

Whatever they decide, they’ll always be able to look back on their years on the court with a common affection.