MONROE - After the Monroe volleyball team dropped the first two sets, senior Paige Murphy gave her team a spark with her serving, but the Cheesemakers' comeback fell short in a four-set season-opening loss to Lake Geneva Badger on Tuesday.
"I'm encouraged by this first match," Monroe coach Heidi Witt said. "They are hungry to win. They know this is just the beginning. They will only get better. I know they will come to practice tomorrow and work harder."
The Cheesemakers battled Badger toe-to-toe in the first two sets, but some late set breakdowns made the difference in a 25-19, 25-21, 16-25, 25-19 loss to the Badgers. With the second set tied at 17, the Cheesemakers struggled with serve receive and hit two balls into the net, had a block attempt ricochet out of bounds and gave up an ace as the Badgers took a 22-17 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"We had some bad passing and a little miscommunication in the first two sets," Witt said. "It's still a young team."
The Cheesemakers had 10 service errors but also turned in some solid serving to win the third set.
After the Cheesemakers forced a sideout to start the third set, Murphy served for six straight winning points and had three aces to give the Cheesemakers a 7-0 lead. Monroe junior Chloe Schroeder had a kill and sophomore Sydney Mathiason had a block later in the third set to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 14-6. Monroe junior Whitney Wells had three consecutive aces late in the match to help the Cheesemakers take an insurmountable 20-10 lead.
"Our serving was strong," Witt said. "We had a lot of good physical and scrappy play. When we got the passes there we attacked with our hitters."
Mathiason had a team-high six kills and Wells added five kills. Murphy had a team-high eight assists. Monroe junior Alicia Kuester at middle hitter had two blocks and four aces. The combination of the 6-foot-1 Mathiason and the 6-0 Kuester gave the Cheesemakers a strong block to set up at the net.
"We have a lot of potential, but they want to get better and win," Witt said. "They (Kuester and Mathiason) will do great things together."
The Badgers raced out to a 12-5 lead in the fourth set. With the use of a short serve, the Badgers racked up several aces to extend the lead to 16-8 before the Cheesemakers mounted a comeback
Kuester had two straight aces to help cut the Badgers' lead to 16-11. Monroe sophomore Alysha Witt had two straight service points to slice the Badgers' lead to 17-14. Badger then scored four straight points to take a 21-14 lead. The Cheesemakers didn't go away quietly. Mathiason and junior Lexus Trickel each had kills to cut the Badgers' lead to 21-16. However, that is as close as the Cheesemakers would get.
"We can only see so many short serves before we adjust to it," Witt said.
"I'm encouraged by this first match," Monroe coach Heidi Witt said. "They are hungry to win. They know this is just the beginning. They will only get better. I know they will come to practice tomorrow and work harder."
The Cheesemakers battled Badger toe-to-toe in the first two sets, but some late set breakdowns made the difference in a 25-19, 25-21, 16-25, 25-19 loss to the Badgers. With the second set tied at 17, the Cheesemakers struggled with serve receive and hit two balls into the net, had a block attempt ricochet out of bounds and gave up an ace as the Badgers took a 22-17 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"We had some bad passing and a little miscommunication in the first two sets," Witt said. "It's still a young team."
The Cheesemakers had 10 service errors but also turned in some solid serving to win the third set.
After the Cheesemakers forced a sideout to start the third set, Murphy served for six straight winning points and had three aces to give the Cheesemakers a 7-0 lead. Monroe junior Chloe Schroeder had a kill and sophomore Sydney Mathiason had a block later in the third set to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 14-6. Monroe junior Whitney Wells had three consecutive aces late in the match to help the Cheesemakers take an insurmountable 20-10 lead.
"Our serving was strong," Witt said. "We had a lot of good physical and scrappy play. When we got the passes there we attacked with our hitters."
Mathiason had a team-high six kills and Wells added five kills. Murphy had a team-high eight assists. Monroe junior Alicia Kuester at middle hitter had two blocks and four aces. The combination of the 6-foot-1 Mathiason and the 6-0 Kuester gave the Cheesemakers a strong block to set up at the net.
"We have a lot of potential, but they want to get better and win," Witt said. "They (Kuester and Mathiason) will do great things together."
The Badgers raced out to a 12-5 lead in the fourth set. With the use of a short serve, the Badgers racked up several aces to extend the lead to 16-8 before the Cheesemakers mounted a comeback
Kuester had two straight aces to help cut the Badgers' lead to 16-11. Monroe sophomore Alysha Witt had two straight service points to slice the Badgers' lead to 17-14. Badger then scored four straight points to take a 21-14 lead. The Cheesemakers didn't go away quietly. Mathiason and junior Lexus Trickel each had kills to cut the Badgers' lead to 21-16. However, that is as close as the Cheesemakers would get.
"We can only see so many short serves before we adjust to it," Witt said.
