MONROE — The jubilation could be felt further than just the Monroe High School gym, as the Cheesemakers picked up their first Badger South win in over two years — 742 days to be exact. Monroe defeated Oregon Oct. 3 in four sets, 26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, its first league victory since Sept. 21, 2017 against Fort Atkinson.
“This was something the girls have been working for all season,” Monroe head coach Heidi Witt said. “It was a close match but we battled it out and came out with the win.”
The first set started off in Oregon’s favor, with the Panthers getting up by more than five points and forcing a Monroe timeout. The flustered Cheesemakers responded to Witt’s words of encouragement in the huddle and worked their way back to score the exciting extra-serve win in Game 1.
Game 2 also kept the crowd on the edge of its seat, while the third set showed that a match win was not inevitable.
“We definitely broke down in that third set with missed serves and our passing wasn’t quite on target. After a time out and a little motivation they started to work their way back into the game,” Witt said. “The fourth set you could see the girls wanted the win — they were serving tough, hustling, being scrappy and hitting the ball hard.”
Cassi Gersbach led the way for Monroe with 16 kills, while Makayla Harrow and Chloe Bunker each had five. Harrow and Lydia Butler each had a block, while Lily Frehner had a block, 29 assists and 14 digs. Alyse Maurer added 14 digs.
Katie Hayes dominated from the service line with seven aces and teammate Bri Seagreaves added four aces.
“Katie Hayes and Bri Seagreaves had a great night behind the serving line,” Witt said. “We have been telling the girls that we believe they can win out October and this was the start. We have to put in some more hard work next week as we head to Monona Grove Thursday.”
Monticello 3, Juda 0
JUDA — The Ponies stayed in second place in the Six Rivers East with a sweep of the Panthers Oct. 3. Monticello knocked off Juda 25-18, 25-15, 25-13.
Juda (2-7 Six Rivers East) led 11-5 in the first set, but Monticello (8-1) rallied back.
“We simply were not able to get enough digs to keep the game close,” Juda coach Scott Anderson said. “We struggled to get them out of system and we struggled to get hard enough hits.”
Ellie Gustafson had 11 kills to lead Monticello, while Mackie Errthum had 10 kills and Maggie Bak and Emily Grant each added six. Errthum led Monticello with three blocks, with Gustafson and Bak each finishing with two. Bak had five aces, and Alexa Siegenthaler dished out 29 assists.
Juda was led by Taylor Golackson, who had four kills and 19 digs. Maddie Smith had 11 digs, two aces and five assists. Montana Steinmann finished with five assists, and Triniti Elmer had four kills.
Brodhead 3, Whitewater 0
BRODHEAD — The Cardinals knocked off the Whippets Oct. 3 in three sets, 25-12, 25-19, 25-18.
Alexis Kammerer and Sabrina Siegel each had three aces, while Abbie Dix added two for Brodhead. Dix led the Cardinals with 11 kills and a block, while Goecks had two blocks and five kills. Kammerer dished out 26 assists and Madisyn Kail led the Cards with 13 digs.
The Cardinals served 90.0% in the match and had 29 kills to just nine hitting errors.
