MONROE — The Cheesemakers dropped a four-set match to Mount Horeb March 16, 15-25, 17-25, 25-17, 25-19. Once again, Monroe showed improvement and competitiveness throughout the match.
“It’s always that little bit away,” said Heidi Witt, Monroe head coach. “Even one of the girls said to me, ‘Coach, we’re playing really well tonight.’ We were saying to them that the score doesn’t reflect the way they played. It wasn’t the win we wanted, but we didn’t have practice last night because of the weather.”
In the second set, Monroe led 12-8 before the Vikings went on a 12-2 run to take full control. In the next game, Mount Horeb led 5-1 early on, then Monroe senior Zoee Pond scored a sideout on a kill. That started a 9-0 Cheesemaker run.
“The one thing we stressed is that we were right there — we were in it. Don’t let mistakes get you down, because if you worry about what just happened, more points have been scored,” Witt said. “I thought we did a nice job of just blowing it off and moving on to the next play.”
The lead grew to as much as 18-11 thanks to an ace from Maddy Leck. The next 12 serves ended in sideouts, and Leck capped the set win for Monroe with another ace.
Neither team gained much of an advantage early on in the four set, but then the rollercoaster ride began. Monroe briefly led 9-8, then the Vikings went on a quick 5-0 run. Witt called a timeout, and her team responded with a sideout, a kill from Elly Wild and an ace from Katie Hayes. The 3-0 spurt began a 9-3 run that saw Monroe take an 18-16 lead.
Mount Horeb coach Kurt Owen called a timeout of his own, and his team responded by closing out the set on a 10-2 run, including scoring the final six points of the match.
“The rallies they had — and Mount Horeb is a great scrapping team, great hitting team — but Broge had five blocks on them tonight. We battled well with them,” Witt said.
Pond led Monroe with 9 kills, while Taylor Jacobson had 7 and Lydia Butler 5. Taylor Broge led Monroe with 5 blocks, and Pond added 2. Pond also had 9 digs and 2 aces. Katie Hayes had 3 aces and 17 assists to lead the Cheesemakers, while Alyse Maurer finished with a team-high 14 digs. Butler and Jacobson each had 7 digs.
The one thing we stressed is that we were right there — we were in it. Don’t let mistakes get you down, because if you worry about what just happened, more points have been scored. I thought we did a nice job of just blowing it off and moving on to the next play.Heidi Witt, Monroe head coach
Monroe made a couple of modifications to its lineup for the match, and Witt was pleased with what she saw.
“I think that worked out alright. We have some of our support players that are working hard in practice. We take note of that,” Witt said.
One of such changes was swapping out sophomore Taylor Jacobson at the service line for Barret Foulker. Jacobson has shown the ability to be a deadly server, but was having an off night against Mount Horeb. Enter Foulker, a senior that was ready and available to play, even if only for one point at a time.
“Taylor was struggling, so it gave us an opportunity to let someone else hop in and get some minutes. We stuck with our main lineup most of the night because they were just clicking,” Witt said.
Julia Magnuson led Mount Horeb with 8 kills and 3 blocks, while Katie Manchester ha 4 aces, Abby Steinhauer 24 digs and Sami Norton 20 assists.
Monroe was set to host Fort Atkinson March 18, then enters a busy week before Spring Break.
“Next week we have a big week with three matches — Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. And then just like that our season’s almost done,” Witt said.
