MONROE — The Cheesemakers went 2-3 in five duals in a 3-day stretch between May 5-7.

On May 5 at Madison Edgewood, the Cheesemakers lost 5-2, only to bounce back with a 4-3 win the next day at home against Baraboo. On May 7, Monroe participated in the Verona Quad, defeating McFarland 4-3 before losing to Verona 7-0 and Franklin 5-2.

“We knew after seeing Baraboo at the Doubles Tournament that this would be close, and it certainly was,” said Monroe coach Matt Bordner.

Picking up one of the most impressive wins during the week was freshman No. 1 singles player Matthew Setterstrom. Against Baraboo’s Joseph Philip, Setterstrom won a marathon match 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

“Matthew had his grittiest match of the year and dug deep to close out a 2.5 hour match,” Bordner said. “He had 5-6 match points at the end that he didn’t finish, and I really thought that might come back to bite him. However, Matthew just kept battling and found a way at the end to close the door in what was the biggest win of his young career.

“The intensity was great and there were phenomenal points from both players down the stretch.  It was fun for Matthew to earn that win for himself and put our team over the edge to grab the team victory.”

Monroe also received wins from Ryan Mathiason (6-2, 6-2) at No. 2 singles, and from its No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams. Chris Giasson and Aaron Roidt won the top flight of doubles 6-1, 6-3, while Dante Giordano and Mitch Ferguson took care of business at No. 3 doubles 7-5, 7-5.

“No. 3 doubles was a pleasant surprise for us, as we haven’t seen a lot of productivity out of 3 doubles lately. Dante and Mitch started slow but really came on and played well in finishing out a solid victory at their flight,” Bordner said. 

In the loss to Edgewood, Giasson and Roidt won at No. 1 doubles in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Ethan Towne and Wes Saunders fended off their Crusader counterparts at No. 2 doubles, 6-1, 7-5.

“No. 1 doubles had a really slow start to their match, but once they settled in, they started playing a lot better. They played a really great second set and then closed out a tight third set. This was a big match for their seeding in subsectionals and the conference tournament,” Bordner said.

Mathiason (6-2, 6-2) and Gavin Eckerman (No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-4) earned singles victories against McFarland, as did Towne and Saunders at No. 2 doubles (6-3, 6-3). Ferguson and Tim Olson defeated their opponents 7-6(5), 6-0.

“We had a bunch of competitive matches around the entire lineup. There were a few close ones I felt like we probably could have pulled off but it was still nice to see us do enough to get the team win,” Bordner said.

Verona dominated the Cheesemakers, with only Monroe’s No. 1 doubles winning more than three games (7-6[5], 6-4).

“Chris and Aaron played really well at 1-doubles for us and almost did enough to take the first set which would have made that match really interesting down the stretch. Otherwise we were pretty much outmatched by Verona,” Bordner said.

In the final dual of the week against Franklin, Bordner mixed up the lineup in order to give his singles players some rest. Eckerman (6-1, 6-2) won at No. 3 singles, with Giordano (6-4, 6-0) victorious at No. 4 singles.

“Gavin and Dante picked up some solid wins and otherwise Franklin did a really nice job across the board and was pretty impressive,” Bordner said.

Up next, Monroe slated to host Sauk Prairie May 10, with the Badger Conference tournament May 21. Subsectionals are scheduled to be played May 23 at Portage.