UNIVERSITY CENTER, MI - Mackenzie Rousse took one look at her new teammate and knew they were going to clash.
This freshman was a little too bold, a little too brash, a little too big-time. And, as senior captain of the Saginaw Valley State University softball team, Rousse knew it would fall upon her to put the new kid in her place.
"You have to," Rousse said. "There are times when she gets something in her head, and I have to stand up, be the captain, and get on her butt about it. And I'm definitely not afraid to do that with her.
"I've been doing it for 18 years."
Life would never be the same for Mackenzie Rousse once little sister Meredith Rousse joined her on the SVSU softball team for 2015.
Mackenzie and Meredith Rousse were one of three pairs of sisters on the 2011 Bay City Western softball team. From Left, Mackenzie Rousse, Meredith Rousse, Mallory Sebald, Courtney Carpenter, Kaylynn Carpenter, and Maddison Sebald, front.
Together as teammates for the first time since they helped make softball history at Bay City Western, the Rousse girls lead No. 3-seeded SVSU into the GLIAC Tournament, opening against No. 6 Hillsdale at noon Friday in the eight-team, double-elimination event in Findlay, Ohio.
The daughters of Bay City's Jodi and Tim Rousse, "Kenz and Mer" are expected to play pivotal roles as the Cardinals vie for their first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference crown since 2009. Mackenzie is a fourth-year standout who is a lock-down center fielder and a run-producing No. 2 hitter while Meredith is a versatile infielder-outfielder and an emerging weapon at the plate.
Both have been at the top of their game as SVSU won 13 of its last 15 contests to nearly climb the standings all the way to the top.
"Our pitching has been a lot more locked in and our bats are crazy hot," Mackenzie said. "Everybody is at their peak point and we're feeling good about it.
"I've been dreaming of a GLIAC ring since my freshman year. To get that in my final year would be perfect, and I know all the seniors feel the exact same way."
It will be a season long-discussed in the Rousse family regardless of what happens from here. Seizing a rare opportunity, the Bay City sisters joined forces at the Division II college level.
SVSU has thrived with the family connection. Mackenzie, a returning first-team all-GLIAC performer, is delivering the best season of her career with a .346 average that includes five doubles, three triples, two home runs and a team-leading 28 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Meredith is having a solid freshman campaign with three doubles, one home run, six stolen bases and a .286 average.
But with sisters also comes the kind of friendly friction that only siblings can provide. And the Rousse girls are no exception.
"It has its ups and downs," said Meredith, who at 18 is four years younger than Mackenzie. "She's always there to support me, but she also likes to tell me to get my head out of my (butt). There are times when I want to rip her hair out. But being teammates has made us so much closer than we were before.
"I've been Little Rousse my whole life. You know how many times I've heard 'You need to be more like your sister?' But now I want nothing more."
In their one season as teammates at Bay City Western, good things happened for the Warriors. Mackenzie was a three-time Bay City Times Dream Teamer and all-state center fielder who batted leadoff for the 2011 squad and Meredith was a fast-rising infielder. Mackenzie's leadoff solo home run vaulted Western to the regional championship while Meredith's mad dash from first to home on an RBI double sent the Warriors to the final four in Battle Creek for the first time in program history.
Mackenzie departed as the school's all-time leader in hits in a single season and career. Those were two standards that were broken by Meredith in her senior season, when she led Western to its breakthrough state championship.
But the one dispute that won't go away for these sisters is all about speed. And when the donned the same uniform again at SVSU, the debate renewed with new force.
Meredith Rousse cheers for her team against Hudsonville during her senior season at Bay City Western in 2014. (Amanda Ray | MLive.com)
"I'll always remember this year because we finally proved who is faster," Meredith said. "She has always been saying she's a faster runner than me and blah-blah-blah. But our coach finally put us together in running drills and I beat her every single time. Now we know."
Although, two sisters means two perspectives.
"She likes to think she's faster than me," Mackenzie said. "Coach may have put her in the faster running group. But I'll take my 20 stolen bases and 21 runs any day. The last time I looked, she doesn't have those."
But beneath the layer of sibling rivalry lies the deeper, richer sibling pride. And big sister and little sister both have plenty of it.
"To be able to spend my last season of softball with my sister playing right next to me is pretty special," Mackenzie said. "It's crazy, but I love it."
Lee Thompson covers local sports for MLive.com and The Bay City Times. Email me at lthomps2@mlive.com and follow me on Twitter: @LeeTsports