NEWBURYPORT — After a summer of traveling all over the nation in pursuit of some of the top junior tennis rankings in New England, Newburyport's Comolli twins have achieved their goal.

Phillips Exeter seniors Shannon and Kelly Comolli have earned two of the top four rankings in New England in the under-18 age group. Shannon is ranked 140th in the nation, while Kelly is ranked 170th.

The girls played together as doubles partners and separately in individual matches to boost their rankings. They had more than 40 overnights in hotels, including stops at national competitions in Memphis, Tenn., Berkeley, Calif., and Denver, Colo. In June, they were doubles champions at the New England Sectional Championship.

"My goal entering the summer was to finish in the top 150," Shannon Comolli said. "I had to finish the last tournament really well to do it."

The girls — both high honors students — have narrowed their college searches to a list of Ivy League schools or Division 3 tennis powerhouses. Their top choice is to continue as doubles partners at Yale University. The girls are also basketball captains at Phillips Exeter and co-heads of the Sports Lessons community service group, which offers one-on-one instruction to young athletes.

"We usually play AAU basketball in the spring until July 4," Shannon Comolli said. "This summer, we committed entirely to tennis, and we got to travel all over the nation to six or seven states. It was fun — almost like being a pro. We'd go to one tournament, come home for a few days and go to the next tournament."

Kelly Comolli said she didn't mind the travel and hotel overnights.

"Most of the time, we were so focused on the next day's matches, we didn't think of it," Kelly Comolli said. "We just wanted to stay healthy and play our best every match."

As the girls continued to compete in tournaments, their respective rankings climbed. Most of the college recruiting for tennis is based on national rankings. The girls are now considering Yale, Cornell, Brown, Georgetown, Middlebury, Tufts, Emory and Carnegie Mellon.

"We really want to play tennis in college," Shannon Comolli said. "In order to do that, we had to improve our rankings so college coaches will notice us. We'll each do what's best for us individually, but we hope to go together for doubles."