If you notice two boys that look fairly similar on the UNC Wilmington men’s tennis team, don’t be alarmed – there’s good reason for that.

Those two are actually brothers and they go by freshman Josh and senior Zach Hublitz. Hailing from the Potomac School in McLean, Va., the duo’s tennis career have come full circle as Zach winds his collegiate career down while Josh only begins his.

When Zach, senior and co-captain for the Seahawks, was approached with the idea of having his younger brother join him, he couldn’t have been more supportive.

 “I thought having him here would be the best thing possible,” said the elder Hublitz. “We are really close and really good friends. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Josh, a four-star recruit by tennisrecruiting.net, had made several visits to the school before he committed to UNCW, but once he stepped foot on campus, his experience here set it apart from the other colleges on his list. He attended matches, made weekend visits, and bonded with the team extremely well.

“Having Zach recommend his brother to our program is the ultimate compliment about what we are doing here,” said head coach Mait DuBois. “This means a lot to me and the kind of pride our players have in our program.”

So far, the transition from high to school to college is going smooth for Josh and having his older brother on the team with him has been beneficial in many ways. Josh and Zach rarely experience conflict on the court. Instead, they find support within one another and encouragement.

“We definitely encourage each other on the court,” Josh said. “Zach is a great coach as well as a teammate because he knows me, how I think, and how I play.”

That bond stretches beyond the court as well, as the duo’s parents find it convenient that they can watch both of their kids play at the collegiate level and they only have to make one trip to do so.

“It’s been great to have them going to the same school,” said mother Lisa Hublitz. “It’s a ‘one-stop-shop’ and I can visit them both in one trip. And the fact that they play the same sport is a bonus.”

Assistant coach of UNCW’s men’s tennis team, Alexander Wetherell, finds that the hardest thing about coaching siblings on the team can be the notorious sibling rivalry.

“Some people may see this as a negative, but with Josh and Zach it’s a positive,” Wetherell said. “They push each other daily on the courts to help improve our team as a whole.”

While having a younger sibling attend the same school and participate in the same sport as you can be exciting and comforting, the job of a big brother still looms as well. Even though the transition has been almost seamless, the elder Hublitz knows his responsibilities expand to off the court, as well.

“A challenge for me is that I have a lot more responsibility,” Zach said. “I’m a co-captain and I also have to look out for Josh because he is my younger brother. I have to be responsible and make sure he is making good decisions.”