MONROE — The Cheesemakers continued their strong season with a 6-1 nonconference win over Freeport Sept. 2 and then a 5-2 win at Milton Sept. 3. Monroe has now won four of its last five duals and are 5-6 overall on the season.

In the Labor Day match against Freeport at Recreation Park, Monroe saw dominant performances at the top of the order. 

“We usually try to play Freeport every year, as some of our players train in Freeport in the winter and it’s nice to see some familiar faces,” Monroe coach Matt Bordner said.

No. 1 singles Emma Towne blazed by Kennedy Spachman 6-0, 6-3, and Bekah Rath rolled in the No. 2 singles match 6-0, 6-2 over Jamie Rodriguez. 

“Emma Towne played another strong match and moves to 8-2 on the season,” Bordner said. “Bekah Rath again played an excellent match. She had quite a few close games, but she just seems to have a knack lately towards winning the important points. She moved her opponent around a ton today while mixing in some nice deep shots as well as shorter slice shots. Her control this year has certainly improved.”

Monroe’s No. 1 doubles tandem of seniors Jensen Christensen and Grace Tostrud blanked Amiah Misek and Caroline Helms 6-0, 6-0. At No. 3 doubles, Sadie Conway and Ava Petitjean swept Alli Coon and Kyla Plowman 6-0, 6-0.

At No. 3 singles, Grace Mathiason dropped the first set to Adi Gitz and rallied the second set to stay alive before winning in three sets, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

“(Mathiason) was down 2-5 in the second set with her back against the wall, and she just found a way to claw herself back into it,” Bordner said. “When she takes matches point-by-point, she can really be dangerous because she never gives up. It’s probably been awhile since I’ve seen a player like Grace who never seems to be out of a match.”

Monroe’s No. 2 doubles tandem of sisters Kerstin and Kylie Miller fended off Kaitlyn Williams and Haley Thies 6-2, 7-6 (4).

“They’ll get some strong tests as we move forward, but for now I’m pleased with how they’re communicating and moving around on the court together,” Bordner said.

Monroe’s lone loss came at No. 4 singles where Cecily Burch lost to Maiya Graves in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 5-7.

“Her and Kelli Polnow have been battling it out at 4-singles spot in our lineup so far this season, and it’s been fun to see them work to continue to improve. Both have been playing in tight varsity matches, but we just need to find a way to get over that hump and limit those errors in our 4-singles spot,” Bordner said.

In the Sept. 3 win at Milton, Monroe’s only defeats were at No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles. It was the first conference win in two seasons for the Cheesemakers.

“This was really refreshing to start our first conference match out with a victory, especially since last season we weren’t able to get any conference wins. I think most of our girls understand how hard it is to compete in the Badger South, and they really stepped up and played well,” Bordner said.

Emma Towne rolled at No. 1 singles 6-1, 6-0, while Rath faced a tougher challenge at 2-singles, 6-4, 6-4. 

“Emma Towne stayed hot at 1 singles with another convincing win. Her serves are on, and she’s just placing the ball really well. She’s in control of her matches thus far, which is really fun to watch,” Bordner said. “Bekah Rath also continues to impress at 2-singles. She battled out a tight match and won a lot of big points. I still don’t think we’ve seen her play her best tennis, so it’ll be fun to see how she continues to develop for us.”

Mathiason was a 6-2, 6-2 winner at 3-singles. Burch lost the 4-singles match 7-6 (4), 6-0.

“Grace Mathiason had a shorter match at 3-singles, compared to her previous two marathon matches. She continues to show flashes of really strong singles play and just needs to keep working on learning how to finish out points,” Bordner said. “Cecily battled hard for us, but kind of ran out of steam after losing a super close and extremely long first set.”

Christensen and Tostrud won 6-3, 6-3 in the top doubles flight, while the Miller sisters won at No. 2 doubles 6-4, 6-1. At No. 3 doubles, Conway and Petitjean fell in three sets 2-6, 6-1, 7-10.

“Grace and Jensen didn’t necessarily play their best match, but they still did well enough to come out with a nice win. I think they both know that their ceiling is high, and so continuing to just try to reach their full potential will be fun,” Bordner said. “Sadie and Ava played a roller-coaster match at 3 doubles. They dropped a bad first set, but came back and won a really strong second set after making some adjustments. That brought a 10-point super tiebreaker, and they just made a few too many errors and double faults in that tiebreaker. I was still really proud of these two and I think this match will help them as they move forward.”