Maximal metric surfaces and the Sobolev-to-Lipschitz property

We find maximal representatives within equivalence classes of metric spheres. For Ahlfors regular spheres these are uniquely characterized by satisfying the seemingly unrelated notions of Sobolev-to-Lipschitz property, or volume rigidity. We also apply our construction to solutions of the Plateau problem in metric spaces and obtain a variant of the associated intrinsic disc studied by Lytchak-Wenger, which satisfies a related maximality condition.