MONROE — Coaches like to see their players peak at the end of the season. So, when the Cheesemakers played their best match of the season Oct. 4 against Oregon on Senior Night, it very much pleased volleyball coach Heidi Witt.

“This is just the best time to start peaking,” Witt said. “I think they put in a lot of hard work this season and maybe it just hasn’t come to fruition until just now.”

The Cheesemakers nearly pulled out their first conference win of the season but lost to Oregon in five sets, 28-26, 24-26, 15-25, 29-27, 11-15.

“It was just a great overall match and I don’t think Oregon was expecting it. They probably saw us at 0-6 and just thought it was going to be another practice. I hope we surprised them and I hope we surprise a few more teams this year,” Witt said.

Monroe used a 6-0 run in the first set to spring to a 13-9 lead, an advantage the Cheesemakers wouldn’t relinquish in the frame despite going to extra serves.

While the second set went to Oregon, it was Monroe’s relentlessness that shined. The Cheesemakers used a 7-2 run to get ahead 9-7, but then allowed 10 straight points to the Panthers. Trailing 21-12 later in the frame, Monroe’s players looked as if they knew the set was over. That is, until Gersbach stepped in. The junior hitter flashed her brilliance for a couple of points after trailing, and the rest of her teammates followed suit with digs and dives all over the court. 

“We were down in the second set. Normally the protocol has been to just let her go, but they fought,” Witt said.

Gersbach went on a run of her own, scoring Monroe’s final six points in the frame.

“It was also a big help from my coach because she was kind of telling me where to put the ball — telling me deep corners or wherever. It just worked out,” Gersbach said.

Oregon led 11-9 midway through the third but then closed the frame on an unrelenting streak, outscoring Monroe 15-6 and making the Cheesemakers again look flustered. But in the fourth set, Monroe found a spark.

“I got a little salty in the timeouts, but maybe they took a little bit of that to heart. They were playing to win instead of not playing to lose,” Witt said.

After falling behind 3-1 early, the Cheesemakers went on a 14-2 run, including a 10-run off the solid serving of libero Alyse Maurer, who had two aces in the stretch. The advantage reached as high as 10-points at 16-6 before the Panthers started clawing their way back with a 14-4 run of their own to tie the score at 20. The two teams traded leads and the contest reached match-point with Oregon ahead 27-26. But the Panthers failed to return two volleys and a blocked spike attempt went out of bounds as the Cheesemakers rallied for the final three points to even the games at two apiece.

“We were really proud because we haven’t gotten a win in a conference match yet. We were just happy possibly taking it to four, and then we took it to five,” Gersbach said. “I think Lily Frehner was the happiest of us all. She was just jumping around and acting crazy.”

The fifth set was also back-and-forth with Monroe holding a 10-9 lead after a Panther serve strayed out of bounds. But the Cheesemakers were unable to close the door and bowed out on Oregon’s match-clinching 6-1 run.

“I’m really proud the way we were able to pursue the constant fight that we had. We didn’t stop and we just kept going and took it all the way down to the last few points. It was a really close match and I’m really proud of the way the girls played,” Gersbach said.

Gersbach finished the match with 13 kills while sophomore Zoee Pond had 12 for Monroe. Pond added three aces and eight digs while Gersbach had two blocks. Senior Lexi Davis had three aces and eight digs for Monroe, senior Elli Mueller had five digs, Maurer, a sophomore, finished with a pair of aces and junior setter Lily Frehner had 28 assists and seven digs.

“(Gersbach) had a great day at the net and she was serving well. It was nice to see more than just one person stepping up in the energy level, for sure. They got excited and we don’t get to see that a lot. And we had a nice crowd behind us,” Witt said. “It’s just too bad we couldn’t pull off the upset.”

Senior Leah Rogers had 22 kills to lead Oregon, which also received 42 digs from senior Emily Konop and 47 assists from senior Erin Flanagan.

“They wanted it bad, but hats off to Oregon because they were digging everything off the floor. You couldn’t pre-celebrate or anything. You had to wait until the whistle. But they just did a great job tonight,” Witt said. “I told them we were really proud of them and there was nothing to hang their heads about.”

Badger South Tournament

STOUGHTON — The Cheesemakers took eighth at the conference tournament Oct. 6.

Monroe went 0-3 in pool play and then lost to Stoughton in three sets in the seventh-place match 25-22, 14-25, 4-15.

In pool play Monroe lost to Edgewood 6-25, 18-25; then took a loss against Watertown 13-25, 13-25 and Fort Atkinson 22-25, 20-25.

“The scores don’t really define how we played - we were quite scrappy and had some really long volleys, Witt said. “The girls did their best.”

The only match remaining before regionals is a Thursday matchup in the Badger Challenge against an opponent from the Badger North at Portage, however, the opponent is yet to be determined, according to Witt. Seeding for regionals was unavailable by deadline.

“Anything can happen in the postseason. Everyone starts at zero,” Witt said.