MUKWONAGO — Monroe took two of five duals at the Mukwonago Invitational Aug. 17-18. The Lady Cheesemakers defeated both Beloit Memorial and Pius XI, but lost to Mukwonago, Waukesha West and Menomonee Falls.
Against Beloit, the Cheesemakers got wins from Emma Towne at No. 2 singles (6-1, 6-0), Cierra Larson at No. 3 singles (6-0, 6-1), Kelli Polnow at No. 4 singles (6-0, 6-0) and all three doubles matches.
“Our girls took care of business versus Memorial and didn’t let up when they built solid leads,” head coach Matt Bordner said. “I was especially proud of Kertin (Miller) and Jessa (Lucas) who won their match tiebreaker (No. 2 doubles, 1-6, 6-1, 10-5) after losing a match tiebreaker to Waukesha West earlier in the day. This was a nice confidence booster for a lot of our girls.”
In the 6-1 win over Pius XI, only Towne came up short, losing 7-5, 6-1. Bordner’s team changed up its matchups, with Grace Tostrud and Jensen Christiansen playing singles and matching Sadie Conway with Miller at No. 3 doubles.
“We picked up a few wins by forfeit and we’re able to play Grace Tostrud and Jensen at singles, which was a nice change of pace,” Bordner said. “Samm Huizenga (No. 1 singles, 7-6, 6-2) played well at the top flight, winning a close first set and cruising forward in a nice second set victory.”
In the 6-1 loss to Menomonee Falls, Towne got Monroe its only win, a dramatic 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 victory over Elise Mourand.
“Emma Towne showed some grit in her match beating a very tough Menomonee opponent in a very tightly contested tiebreaker,” Bordner said. “Jensen and Grace Tostrud found themselves on the losing end of their tiebreaker (5-7, 6-2, 10-7), but again I just think all of the close matches we played from this invite will really help us down the line. Ideally, we’d like to be winning about 50 percent of our tiebreakers or more. We’re not there yet but the more comfortable we get the more success we will see with them.”
Christensen and Tostrud won the No. 1 doubles match 6-2, 5-7, 10-3 against Waukesha West, which was the Cheesemakers’ only victory in the 6-1 defeat. Lucas and Miller lost in a tiebreaker 6-4, 3-6, 10-8, as did Towne at No. 2 singles 4-6, 6-2, 12-10.
“The team score doesn’t show it, but this was a great match for us,” Bordner said. “We went to 3 match tiebreakers with a tough Waukesha West team but just couldn’t close two of them. These close matches are great experience playing under pressure and will hopefully pay off for us later in the season.”
Mukwonago swept Monroe 7-0.
On Aug. 21, Monroe defeated Portage in the Badger North-South Challenge 5-2. All three doubles teams won, as did Towne at No. 1 singles and Larson at No. 3 singles.
“We moved around some pieces in our lineup as Samm Huizenga played some more singles for us as well as Becky Thoman. At this point in the season, we are simply looking to improve with each match and practice and figure out where each of our players belongs,” Bordner said. “There’s a lot of competition for some of the lower spots on our varsity lineup, so it will be exciting to see which girls rise to the occasion.”
