SEATTLE – If Brittany Langdon hadn't forgotten her soccer jersey one day in Texas, she might never have found herself playing in Seattle.
 
If she wasn't playing soccer here, chances are Kendall Langdon wouldn't be playing volleyball in Seattle, either.
 
Now, they're both in the Emerald City – Brittany a defender on the pitch for the Falcons as they head to San Diego for this week's start of the NCAA Division II West Regionals, Kendall a serving and defensive specialist on the court with the final road trip of the season looming on Thursday and Saturday in Alaska.
 
Competitive as they are – “We go to the beach and race on the beach,” Brittany said – the two sisters from Irvine, Calif., can't imagine their college lives without their sports …
 
… or without each other.
 
“I always thought going (to school) with Brittany would be super fun,” Kendall said. “But I was really set on staying in California and looking at schools around that area.
 
“Then I came to visit Brittany, and her roommate played on the volleyball team. We went to the volleyball match, and Brittany said, 'Just come meet the coach (Chris Johnson) and say hi.'”
 
Brittany, with a big smile toward her sister, added, “I had an agenda.”
 
By the end of the following summer, the sisters, two years apart in their schooling (Brittany is now a senior; Kendall a sophomore) but very close in most every other aspect of life, were on their way to being back together again.
 
“At (SPU's) volleyball camp, I got to meet the players, and that was kind of the turning point,” Kendall said. “Chris offered me a spot, and I said, 'Why not? My sister is here, she loves it – if she can handle Seattle, I can handle Seattle.”
 
Said Brittany, “I was so excited.”
 
SOUNDING JUST LIKE SISTERS
Having a sit-down conversation with them, it's hard to tell who is more excited. With equally outgoing and bubbly personalities, they sometimes talk to each other, and sometimes talk over each other – occasionally while finishing each other's sentences.
 
 
“Well, I still think I can go out on that volleyball court,” countered Brittany, who played the game for a while before going off in the soccer direction.
 
Brittany, 21, and Kendall, 20, are the two oldest of the five Langdon siblings. All of them are athletically inclined – 18-year-old Luke plays football (he's a quarterback, same position as Brittany's boyfriend, Matt Barkley of USC), 16-year-old Molly plays volleyball (she's a setter, just like Kendall), and 14-year-old Ben plays football and lacrosse.
 
“We all work out together, and we're all really competitive,” Kendall said.
 
Whether any of them eventually come to Seattle Pacific remains to be seen. But that door certainly is open – thanks in large part to the fact that Brittany arrived at a Texas soccer field one day without her regular No. 5 jersey.
 
“My club coach knew Chuck (Sekyra, SPU's head coach), and he said, 'Come watch one of my players play – she's No. 5.' So Chuck thought I was going to be No. 5, but I was No. 11 that day,” Brittany said. “At the end of the game, Chuck said (to my club coach), 'I don't know about No. 5, but I sure like No. 11.'”
 
 
“I'd never heard of SPU,” she said. “I said, 'Why would I go to Seattle?'”
 
But once she came …

“I fell in love with it here the first time on campus. It was like the answer to a prayer.”
 
In speaking of her own decision to come to SPU, Kendall essentially agreed.
 
“It's just one of those moments where you know,” she said. “It's a God thing for both of us.”
 
Both are majoring in communications. But Kendall plans to switch to education (“I've always wanted to be a teacher”) and Brittany now wants to work in national adoptions. (“That's my passion and my heart”).
 
The one major drawback to all of this togetherness?
 
They don't get to see each other play very much. Their seasons are during the fall, with almost all soccer games and volleyball matches on Thursdays and Saturdays. Those contests are often at the same time and frequently in different cities.
 
“On home matches, when we play during the day, she'll come,” Brittany said. “Then I'll leave after my game and go watch her.”
 
A NICE CITY AFTER ALL
It's not all about games and classwork, though. There's plenty of time just to be sisters.
 
“We see each other quite a bit,” Kendall said. “We go downtown or go to Pike Place Market, or go to church together.”
 
Ironically, while both Langdons initially scoffed at the idea of leaving typically sunny California for the much more seasonal Pacific Northwest, this corner of the country has grown on them.
 
“I love the eternal summer (of California),” Brittany said. “But it's beautiful to have seasons.”
 
Added Kendall,”I love the seasons and the weather – I can't imagine going back home to eternal summer. I'm for sure staying up here – I didn't think I would ever be saying that.”
 
“I'd love to stay, too,” Brittany said.
 
Spoken like a couple of sisters – who sometimes talk to each other, sometimes talk over each other – but do it with a smile …
 
… and do it together.