Laura (18) was the first to start when she rolled her first competitive bowl three years ago and Eilish (14) followed suit a year later.
This is the first year that the Reilly sisters have played together in the pairs and they are representing Nayland College at the championships in Dunedin.
"It is something new for us," Eilish said. "We haven't played at this level of bowls before."
It was a rocky start for the Nayland College pair who lost their first two games.
They lost to the Southland Girls High School pair of Kerry Heffer and Georgia McGee 11-6 in the first game. It was closer in the second round when they lost to Melissa Fok and Lauren Muldrew (Papatoetoe High School).
They came from behind to win the third game by scoring five on the last end to beat Selena Goddard and Siobhan Archer (Howick College) 10-7.
The sisters like bowls because it is a game that draws on all-round skills. "It is not just physical", Eilish said. "There are mental skills, as well."
The sisters did not make the cut into post-section play and were relegated to today's plate event.
The standout team in their section was Sophia Ockhuysen and Emma Martin (New Plymouth Girls) who were unbeaten and won their five games.
The Southland Girls' High School pair of Heffer and McGee also qualified with four wins.
In the other section, Katelyn Inch and Brittany Tyson (St Margarets College) also had five wins and the other top qualifier was Caitlin Thomson and Lucy Whitlock (Palmerston North Girls High School) with three wins and a draw.
Tessa Hocking (Napier Girls) was stamped with the favouritism tag in the girl singles when she won her five games and outplayed last year's runner-up, Lanah Craik (Waitaki Girls) 20-10. Craik won her other four games.
In the other section, Holly McIlroy (Manurewa High School) won five games and Connie Rowlands (Linwood College) four.
In the boys singles, favourite Monte Pawa (Kaitaia College) qualified with four wins, losing only to Euan Wong (Hutt Valley High School) who beat him 21-11.
In the other section, Dean Drummond (Hastings Boys) and Clayton Hockley (Takapuna Grammar) both won four games to qualify.
It was tight in section A of the boys pairs with four teams gaining three wins and the top three places were decided by differential. Teams to advance were Gavin Sims and Jordan Bishop (Orewa College), Jordan Linn and Joe Doyle (Coastal Taranaki School) and Scott Mansfield and Tu Solomon (Kaikoura High School).
In the other section, the top qualifiers were Scott Johnson and Charles McLeod (Tawa College) and Ben Dunbar and Keanu Darby (Timaru Boys).
