By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Senior doubles duo Brook Daniels played a big part in Franklin capturing its first ever Hockomock League Championship in school history last spring.

The sport traditionally named lawn tennis was invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England where the athletes originally struck the ball with their hands. It wasn’t until the 16th century when rackets were added to the sport and subsequently the game was named tennis. Doubles tennis requires a team of two players on each side, emphasizing collaboration and teamwork.

Franklin’s senior doubles tandem of Sydney Tolonen and Brook Daniels had not begun playing the sport until late in their lives, and after only three years together, the duo has made a name for themselves, posting a 29-4 record for the Panthers. The duo went 1-0 during their freshman campaign together, improved to 13-1 the following year and last spring went 15-3.

Tolomon, who was previously a competitive swimmer, was in the water when COVID hit, and when she got tendonitis, she decided to look for a sport outside while recovering. It was here she joined a club tennis team with a friend, who would later drop out, and found that she truly loved the sport.

“I had never played a racket sport before, but quickly found that I loved the strategy of the game,” Tolonen said. “It was a sport that anyone can learn, and I was picking up the skills at a fast pace.”

Her now partner, Daniels, literally picked up a tennis racket for the very first time as freshman. Having been a lacrosse player in the spring, Daniels had given the sport up, and her parents wanted her to continue to do something in that time frame, so they signed her up for tennis, something the freshman was not thrilled with.

“I was definitely mad at first and obviously nervous having never played the sport in my life,” Daniels said. “Tennis was in all aspects complicated from the scoring to actually playing the game.”

However, about midway through her freshman campaign with Franklin, Daniels started to understand the game, and although she was not sure what had happened, things started to click on the court.

While both girls would play with different partners their first year with the Panthers, they eventually were paired up near the end of the season, winning their only match together. Franklin coach Bob Pingeton would keep the duo together their sophomore season, and the rest is history.

“That first year, we had singles players who had already established themselves, so there was no room there,” he said. “But these two were made for doubles and went strong to the net. A lot of players don’t like to go to the net but instead stay on the baseline – Brooke and Sydney were different.”

It was during their sophomore year the two would get the chance to play together on a regular basis. Pingeton noted that while the duo was still young and rather timid, they were winning. They were not blowing teams out, but surviving.

“They were still learning the game, especially as doubles teammates,” the Franklin coach said. “But they had the confidence in one another, and that lead to winning matches.”

While Tolonen had played both singles and doubles as a freshman, she found she enjoyed playing with a teammate much preferable.

“I love the aspect of teamwork, so doubles was definitely the better fit for me. Being paired with Brooke, I found that we had a great chemistry on and off the court,” shew said. “We picked up on each other’s skills and excelled from there; I’m more of a consistent baseline player, while Brooke goes hard to the net.”

Having basically been able to go 29-4 over the past two seasons as relatively new students to the game, both girls are beyond proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish in such a short time. Tolonen noted she took up tennis for fun and never thought it would take her to where she is today.

“Tennis was a different sport all together,” Daniels said. “But what we’ve been able to accomplish so far – I would have never thought possible in a million years.”

Both girls have similar approaches to the game, according to the Coach.

“They both have strong serves and are aggressive to the net,” he said. “When one is at the net they are very strong, and very rarely do they lose points.”

As they begin their third and final season together as doubles teammates, Daniels and Tolonen are looking to take their game to the next level while helping the team move deeper into the tournament. 

“We’ve gotten to the point of understanding one another’s strengths and weaknesses, “Daniels said. “We know when we have to calm one another down or bring them up. Coming into our final season I obviously want to continue with our winning record, while having fun during our senior year.”

“I’m hoping that as a team we can defend our Hockomock League Title, and to put together an undefeated season would be great, but the biggest thing is to enjoy one more season with my tennis family,” Tolonen said.

Last spring, Franklin captured its first ever Hockomock League Championship in school history, and Daniels and Tolonen were a huge part of that.

“They are the driving force behind our team and consistently give us a chance to win,” the coach said. “Having only lost a handful of matches over the last few years – this year is status quo and looking for them to continue to win a majority of their matches.”

Pingeton expects his senior doubles tandem to improve upon their game throughout the season and help the team go further into the tournament. The coach is also hoping that they can qualify to take part in the first-ever state doubles tournament.