The Valparaiso University tennis program has announced the addition of Elizabeth Sobieski (Muskego, Wis. / Lake Geneva), who has signed her national letter of intent to join the team beginning with the 2022-2023 academic and athletic year.

“Throughout my college search, Valpo seemed to be the obvious choice,” Sobieski said. “The atmosphere of the team is so positive. I really enjoyed the walkability of the campus and the high academic standards.”

Sobieski won the 2020 Wisconsin state championship in singles while also helping her team to a 2020 state title. She also helped her team to a 2019 Wisconsin girls state runner-up finish and is a three-time scholar-athlete honoree.

“We’ve had a lot of success with Wisconsin state champions (Claire Czerwonka), so we’re excited to bring another one into our program,” head coach Bob Modesto said. “We like the state of Wisconsin, and we’re looking for good things from Elizabeth. It really says something about you as a tennis player when you win a state championship, enduring that pressure to come out on top. That bodes well for Elizabeth’s success in college because she’s already succeeded in those pressure situations.”

Sobieski will join a program that finished with its highest win total since 2007 in 2020-2021 and has sustained that success with a strong fall season, highlighted by two individual conference championships won by Wisconsin natives — Claire and Olivia Czerwonka in doubles and Olivia in singles.

Sobieski has a twin sister Lauren, who will compete in rowing at Temple University.

“In addition to being a great tennis player, Elizabeth is a great student,” Modesto said. “We always like to have great student-athlete combinations in our program, and we feel like we have that with Elizabeth.”