Three sisters, three scorers: How Abby Meyers and her siblings found a common love in basketball

There’s a picture out there somewhere of a dog pile of smiling, sweaty and satisfied girls, each joyous that they had helped their high school basketball team reach the program’s first state finals in 15 years.

When teams celebrate with a dog pile, usually all of the players pile on top of each other for one massive rejoicing. Instead, the Walt Whitman High School girls varsity basketball crew created two separate celebrations, with the center of each holding a special bond.

Those two were Abby and Olivia Meyers, the twin sisters who helped transform the Whitman program. 

Growing up in the Meyers family is not one for the weak. The parents, Valerie and Steve, are both radiologists. They raised three daughters: Emily, the oldest of the bunch, and Abby and Olivia, the twins.

Like many siblings, the three have slightly different personalities, according to Meyers’ high school coach Peter Kenah. But each found a common interest: Basketball. The trio each played AAU together, ultimately all ending up on the Whitman high school team.

Yet right away for Kenah, Abby stood out as the one who lived for the game.

“Abby is just a killer who loves basketball, that was never Emily or Olivia’s thing,” Kenah said.

Despite the differences in character, the three sisters always had a competitive fire against one another. Kenah recalls hearing that the three of them would have sandcastle competitions when they went on family vacations, with each trying to build the most elaborate castle in order to out-duel the other.

Although Abby insists she always had her sisters’ number, whether that was in sand games or one-on-one’s in the family driveway.

“Obviously [my sisters] are super competitive, but not as competitive as me,” Meyers said.

Abby was an incredibly gifted athlete at a young age, leaving Kenah impressed the first time he saw her in the seventh grade. However, she ultimately did not attend a private basketball school powerhouse for a very practical reason — car mileage.

“That’s one of the secrets is how [Abby] got to public school was because of her sisters,” Kenah said. “Val didn’t want to drive all over the place to have three [different] teams.”

While Abby was recruited the most coming out of high school, Olivia also drew Division One interest out of high school. However, both ended up at Princeton, where Abby starred on the Tigers basketball team, while Olivia became the club basketball president.

At Maryland now, Abby is regarded as one of the team’s top leaders, with a constantly upbeat persona who never leaves a room without a smile on her face. With her twin sister though, things were a little different.

“I’d yell at her a little bit more on the court and she would take it,” Meyers said with a smirk.

Today, the Meyers family has begun to branch out into the next phases of their lives. Emily, who was always considered the most reserved, attended college in California and is currently a civil engineer.

Meanwhile, the two twins are still competing athletically, just on different playing fields. Olivia plays for the University of Calgary tennis team practicing her masters, while Abby is the third-leading scorer on a Maryland unit with high aspirations.

When Meyers was asked about the time playing with her sisters, she laughed and expressed the gratitude to have sisters so close to her in age. Yet it was easy to see the competitive nature of the three in her answers, even if they’re thousands of miles apart today.

“You know, I’m looking forward to our next first game or something,” Meyers said with a laugh.