Zak Roberts and Darin Van Horn are Deer Lakes High School's version of "The Twin Towers," but their sport is not basketball -- it's volleyball.

"We played basketball together in fifth grade and my dad saw us under the hoop and called us 'The Twin Towers,'" said Roberts. "But I didn't play basketball very long. When I started playing volleyball with Darin, I knew it was the sport for me."

Roberts, 6-foot-6, and Van Horn, 6-4, are senior middle blockers for the Lancers boys' volleyball team, seeded No. 2 in the WPIAL Class AA bracket and both are four-year starters.

"The sport of volleyball has been in our family for quite a few years," said Van Horn, who also found that volleyball was more to his liking. "My dad, my uncles and my brothers played."

Van Horn's father, Kirk, was a middle blocker on the 1978 Lancers squad, which claimed the school's only PIAA title. His brothers, Ryan and Jaison, were four-year starters at Deer Lakes.

"Ryan is nine years older than me and Jaison is five years older," Van Horn said. "I grew up on the [volleyball] court. I remember messing around with a volleyball under the bleachers during my brothers matches."

Roberts and Van Horn have led Deer Lakes to four consecutive WPIAL playoff appearances.

"It was fun and exciting to learn the game while starting as a freshman," Roberts said. "There were a few times that year where I felt I was in over my head, but the experience I gained that year really helped."

Van Horn's favorite memory is from a match during their freshman year.

"We had a match with Penn Hills that year and beat them in four games," Van Horn said. "It was such a big win that coach [Rick Tatrn] took us all out to eat and picked up the tab."

The Lancers duo were both voted to the first team WPIAL Class AA All-Stars. Both were also recoginized on the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association [PVCA] All-State Finest 40.

"I know Darin better than anybody," Roberts said. "We have been best friends for as long as I can remember. We have this weird connection. I know what he's going to do. We know what each other is thinking."

Van Horn agreed: "We feed off each other [during a match]. We've been playing together so long we know what the other will do in certain situations."

Van Horn began his career splitting time as a setter and middle hitter. Both of his brothers were full-time setters.

"You don't see a setter/middle hitter very often," said Tatrn, referring to Van Horn, who shared the setting duties with Tyler Kurtz his freshman and sophomore seasons. "I had to take advantage of his height."

Tatrn changed the strategy last year, as he made Van Horn a full-time middle hitter. Kurtz split the setting duties with freshman Jeremy Gaston, who has taken over as the sole setter this year.

"It really helps to have Darin concentrating on hitting, blocking and passing," Tatrn said. "Having Darin and Zak as full-time middle hitters makes us a more potent team. We always have one of our big guys in the front row."

Deer Lakes drew a bye in the opening round of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs, then recorded a 3-0 win against Seton-LaSalle in Monday's quarterfinals. The Lancers faced Derry Area in last night's quarterfinals. The final and consolation final in both classes will be tomorrow at La Roche College.

"We think about [winning a WPIAL title] a lot," Roberts said. "Winning one has been a goal since our freshman year. We have the talent required to reach that goal, but it will not be easy. If everybody plays up to their capability, we can definitely win it."

Both will end their scholastic careers, but neither plans to stop playing volleyball.

Van Horn will attend Penn State University next year and plans to try out for the Nittany Lions squad. Roberts will attend Kent State, a school that does not sponsor a men's volleyball team, to major in architecture. He plans to play for a club team at Kent State.