MILTON - Often, the best things in life come in the wake of adversity.
Two nights removed from squandering a two-game lead to visiting Stoughton, Monroe's volleyball team rattled off a 25-18, 25-9, 25-19, sweep of Milton; the Cheesemakers' first Badger South victory, Thursday.
At 3-2 in Game 3, the Red Hawks took their first lead since being up 1-0 in the opener. Several points later, they enjoyed their only 3-point lead in the match at 8-5 before the Cheesemakers put a painful flashback to use.
"We thought about Tuesday and how much that killed us," senior co-captain Jamie Armstrong said. "We knew we had to keep our foot on the pedal and keep going."
"It was a wake-up call," fellow senior co-captain Abby Kennison said.
Armstrong keyed a scrappy, momentum-restoring point as she bumped a third hit lunging to her right and out of bounds well beyond the back boundary. Moments later, Monroe (10-5, 1-4 Badger South) won the first of six straight points. Junior Jaclyn Ditter capped the surge with a block kill on the Red Hawks' hardest hitter, Erin Stalker, and a spike kill from the middle to the back left corner, giving Monroe an 11-8 lead.
The Cheese cruised to a 22-13 lead as Armstrong unleashed a pair of virtually unreturnable jump serves.
"Tonight it was on, and when it's on, I just love it," Armstrong said. "It's almost like a really hard kill coming at them."
Only this kill dropped as if it turned to lead once it cleared the net, buckling the knees of Red Hawks players before they dove unsuccessfully.
Monroe tipped kills around double blocks to quell a late rally by Milton.
"I just kept waiting for us to score that last point and when it came, it felt amazing," Kennison said.
Cool and collected, the Cheesemakers closed the match by simply going back to basics as they did in the opening game.
The Red Hawks smothered several kill tries with tandem blocks early in the match to get within one at 13-12. So the Cheesemakers adjusted their hitting angles and tipped pinpoint kills around the human barricades.
"We realized we need to be smart with our shots, instead of powerful, and place them," Armstrong said.
Just the same, the Cheesemakers got in some big swings, too.
When Milton couldn't contain senior Jessica Wyssbrod's heavy serve, Armstrong rifled an errant first pass back at the Red Hawks. Three points later, another senior, Chelsea Wyss, painted the left line with a scorched spike.
Armstrong led a deep corps of Monroe hitters with eight kills and three blocks while Wyssbrod led in aces (6) and assists (16) and Wyss paced the team in digs (13).
Cheesemakers coach Dave Gersbach was thrilled with his upperclassmen's poise and ability to adjust to score in a variety of ways.
"Quite frankly, they came out tonight," Gersbach said. "They did their warmup. They wanted it, and there wasn't anyone who was going to stop them. It was great to see the seniors take ownership of the match."
Lofty preseason expectations proved only to fuel the team's frustration as a handful of five-set match losses stacked up.
"I think we took too much on our shoulders," Gersbach said. "We've stepped back and re-assessed it. Now it's one point at a time, one pass at a time. It's baby steps."
That's fine with Armstrong, who has started at middle hitter since her freshman year. She's ready for any challenge at this point-particularly with these teammates.
"This is the most chemistry I've had on any team," Armstrong said.
Two nights removed from squandering a two-game lead to visiting Stoughton, Monroe's volleyball team rattled off a 25-18, 25-9, 25-19, sweep of Milton; the Cheesemakers' first Badger South victory, Thursday.
At 3-2 in Game 3, the Red Hawks took their first lead since being up 1-0 in the opener. Several points later, they enjoyed their only 3-point lead in the match at 8-5 before the Cheesemakers put a painful flashback to use.
"We thought about Tuesday and how much that killed us," senior co-captain Jamie Armstrong said. "We knew we had to keep our foot on the pedal and keep going."
"It was a wake-up call," fellow senior co-captain Abby Kennison said.
Armstrong keyed a scrappy, momentum-restoring point as she bumped a third hit lunging to her right and out of bounds well beyond the back boundary. Moments later, Monroe (10-5, 1-4 Badger South) won the first of six straight points. Junior Jaclyn Ditter capped the surge with a block kill on the Red Hawks' hardest hitter, Erin Stalker, and a spike kill from the middle to the back left corner, giving Monroe an 11-8 lead.
The Cheese cruised to a 22-13 lead as Armstrong unleashed a pair of virtually unreturnable jump serves.
"Tonight it was on, and when it's on, I just love it," Armstrong said. "It's almost like a really hard kill coming at them."
Only this kill dropped as if it turned to lead once it cleared the net, buckling the knees of Red Hawks players before they dove unsuccessfully.
Monroe tipped kills around double blocks to quell a late rally by Milton.
"I just kept waiting for us to score that last point and when it came, it felt amazing," Kennison said.
Cool and collected, the Cheesemakers closed the match by simply going back to basics as they did in the opening game.
The Red Hawks smothered several kill tries with tandem blocks early in the match to get within one at 13-12. So the Cheesemakers adjusted their hitting angles and tipped pinpoint kills around the human barricades.
"We realized we need to be smart with our shots, instead of powerful, and place them," Armstrong said.
Just the same, the Cheesemakers got in some big swings, too.
When Milton couldn't contain senior Jessica Wyssbrod's heavy serve, Armstrong rifled an errant first pass back at the Red Hawks. Three points later, another senior, Chelsea Wyss, painted the left line with a scorched spike.
Armstrong led a deep corps of Monroe hitters with eight kills and three blocks while Wyssbrod led in aces (6) and assists (16) and Wyss paced the team in digs (13).
Cheesemakers coach Dave Gersbach was thrilled with his upperclassmen's poise and ability to adjust to score in a variety of ways.
"Quite frankly, they came out tonight," Gersbach said. "They did their warmup. They wanted it, and there wasn't anyone who was going to stop them. It was great to see the seniors take ownership of the match."
Lofty preseason expectations proved only to fuel the team's frustration as a handful of five-set match losses stacked up.
"I think we took too much on our shoulders," Gersbach said. "We've stepped back and re-assessed it. Now it's one point at a time, one pass at a time. It's baby steps."
That's fine with Armstrong, who has started at middle hitter since her freshman year. She's ready for any challenge at this point-particularly with these teammates.
"This is the most chemistry I've had on any team," Armstrong said.
