Muskego tennis duo chasing history
Lauren Sobieski and Maddie Toboyek are on a quest to add to the rapidly filling trophy case at Muskego.
They forms the top doubles pairing for the Warriors tennis team, and heading into the WIAA state tournament Thursday they may also represent the best duo in the state.
Sobieski, a sophomore, and Toboyek, a senior, are seeded No. 1 in the Division 1 doubles bracket entering the tournament, bringing an undefeated record to the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
For a school that has brought home state championships in baseball, football, gymnastics, boys swimming, girls cross country, girls track and field and girls soccer in the last 15 months, a tennis title would be unprecedented.
“We just want to go down there and have some fun,” Sobieski said. “That's sort of been what we've been doing all year and it's worked.”
A quick ascension
Sobieski and Toboyek are in their first year playing doubles together, and they're emphatic that it did actually take a while to start getting comfortable on the court together.
The results say otherwise.
At 27-0, Sobieski and Toboyek have yet to face a better opponent. There were no early season slip-ups, and the season-long run through the opposition caught them by surprise.
“We didn't really think about it all that much, but it definitely has been like, ‘Whoa, this is kind of weird,'” Toboyek said. “In past years, there's been times where we would be facing the other team's 1 doubles and you're like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to play that.'”
This year, Sobieski and Toboyek have often been the team opponents don't want to face.
Their toughest challenge was the Homestead pairing of Bridget Brown and Ellie Sprinkmann, the No. 3 seed at state. In the sectional tournament, they defeated the No. 5 overall seed, Whitefish Bay's Elena Delongchamps and Katie Kavanagh.
“We just got to understanding the other person's strength and weaknesses,” Sobieski said.
“Also, there's the mental game and understanding how to motivate each other every day.”
Building on success
Both players enter the tournament with experience at state.
Toboyek is making her third straight trip to state with her third doubles partner after each of the previous two, Mady Becker and Erin Brezovar, played with her as seniors. In 2017, Toboyek and Becker reached the second round before falling to the top seed.
Last year, as the No. 7 seed, Toboyek and Brezovar won two matches before losing in the round of 16.
“Every year, I've gotten one round further,” Toboyek said. “I feel like every year, it's slowly getting better, slowly playing better at state, so I feel like this year should be pretty good.”
The goal this weekend, though? “Three more wins instead of just winning one more would be nice,” Toboyek joked.
Sobieski reached state as a freshman playing singles last year along with her twin sister, Elizabeth.
Lauren was on the fence about whether to play No. 1 singles again this fall or join Toboyek at doubles.
She had little doubles experience, but the allure of trying something new – and the prospect of playing alongside Toboyek – won out.
“With my sister and me, we were kind of debating at the beginning of the season because our coaches gave us the option of playing singles or doubles,” Sobieski said. “I just wanted to give it a try and see how it worked.”
So far, so good, it seems.