Sarah Gealer couldn’t wait to meet her roommate. But not like this.

Gealer stepped into the room in August and immediately noticed something different — there was a person. Vroni Van Berlo had moved in while she was showering, and Gealer was wearing only a towel.

It was an awkward start to a fruitful partnership. When the Terrapins tennis team hosts No. 10 Miami tonight and No. 20 Florida State on Sunday, Gealer and Van Berlo will take the court as the Terps’ No. 1 doubles team.

Gealer is a short and fiery freshman. Van Berlo is tall, calm and collected senior. While they may seem like opposites in some respects, the duo meshes well on the court.

“They understand each other well and know what each other are going to do,” coach Daria Panova said yesterday. “They just work together rather than someone taking a leadership role.”

Gealer and Van Burlo do experience some “communication issues,” but the pair has found a way to work around those during matches.

“On the court we just keep it really simple,” Gealer said.

The strategy has worked. They have won two of their past three matches, with the lone loss coming against Georgia Tech’s No. 67 doubles team. That solid stretch comes after the two went just 1-6 in their previous seven matches together.

Van Berlo doesn’t consider herself Gealer’s mentor. As an experienced college player, Van Berlo said she understands what coaches expect and she often “translates” Panova’s directions for Gealer.

Gealer may not have Van Berlo’s experience, but she has already played in more college games than anyone besides her senior roommate on the Terps’ active roster.

Panova tried to pair Gealer with freshman Gabriela Srodowski earlier in the spring while Van Berlo was matched with freshmancq Olga Gaistruk. But Panova had seen enough by the seventh match of the season Feb. 24. She wanted her two most seasoned collegiate doubles players hitting together on the Terps’ top team.

“Playing doubles in college, it becomes more about experience,” Panova said. “Not a lot of juniors [players] practice doubles before coming in.”

Much has changed since a towel-clad Gealer met Van Berlo in the summer. The Terps now have a full-time assistant coach. There are seven Terps on the team instead of four. And there is no longer any awkwardness between Gealer and Van Berlo.

“I feel like I [have] gotten to know her a lot better this semester,” Gealer said. “We have just grown closer.”

sportsdbk@gmail.com