The last time Kelli Gannon and younger sister Kristi teamed up, they led their high school team to glory.

	Kristi Gannon

	Kelli Gannon

Michigan fans hope the sister act can work similar magic in Ann Arbor this season.

Kelli, a senior and two-time AstroTurf/NFHCA All-American, is one of Michigan's top returners after scoring a team-high 17 goals and notching 42 points in 1999 as the Wolverines made their first appearance in the NCAA title game. Kristi, meanwhile, is in her first season at Michigan, but already making an impression.

Through the first six games of the season, Kristi, a freshman defender, has tallied two goals and two assists. Kelli, a center midfielder, leads the team with four goals and six assists, and has notched at least one assist in each game this season. And so far, the Gannons haven't had any problem gelling. In Michigan's 6-1 victory over American on Saturday, Kelli scored the first goal of the game on an assist from Kristi.

The Gannons, born 3½ years apart, hadn't been teammates since Kelli's senior year at San Pasqual High School in Escondido, Calif. That year, their team went 25-0.

Michigan already is off to a 5-1 start this fall, and was ranked fourth in the season's first STX/NFHCA coaches poll, which was released Tuesday.

"It's awesome to be playing together again," Kristi said. "My freshmen year of high school we had a lot of fun together, and I learned a lot from (Kelli) on the field."

Kelli, however, says Kristi has learned a lot since then.

"She has improved 120 percent," Kelli said. "Every part of her game is better. She's more mature, and she can hold her ground on the field. But her biggest strength is her ability to see the game, have patience with the ball, especially on defense. She's very poised and patient."

Kristi is equally generous with the compliments.

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"I've never seen anyone who has more drive than her," she said. "She's tenacious, will do anything to get it in the net or get the ball away from people."

Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz apparently agrees.

"(Kelli) is our field general and the best midfielder in the country," the coach has said. "(Kristi) is the top defender in the country coming into college, one who makes great decisions and knows the game well."

Neither sister is worried that their biological ties will get in the way.

"I treat everyone the same way," said Kelli, a captain, "and when we were in high school, I yelled at her sometimes."

"But it's good for me, and just makes me better," said Kristi, who also considered North Carolina. "We are teammates on the field and sisters off the field."

After Michigan's landmark season in 1999, which included the program's first trip to the Final Four, Kelli just hopes the Wolverines can continue their winning ways.

"We're trying to prove to everyone last year wasn't a fluke," she said. "But I think we can give everyone a run for their money. We're incredibly fast, have a relentless drive and brought in a lot of quick freshmen."

The Gannons aren't the first sister act to grace Ann Arbor -- Julia and Sara Forrestel played together for Michigan in the early 1980s, and more recently, Kalli and Lelli Hose suited up for the Wolverines in the early '90s -- but Kristi's decision to attend Michigan was a win-win for both siblings.

Although they'll only spend one year together, Kristi already knew at least one person on campus. And with the rest of the family -- parents Gary and Judy Gannon and eight siblings -- in California, Kelli finally had a familiar face close by.

"I'm happy that I get to see Kristi everyday," Kelli said. "We have a pretty close family, and after being away for three years with everybody else living in California, I sometimes felt like I had nobody out here. Now I have somebody."

A teammate on the field, and a sister off.

Melanie Jackson is the college sports editor at ESPN.com.