MUKWONAGO — The Cheesemakers opened its season with a pair of invitationals at Mukwonago and East Troy.

At the Mukwonago invite Aug. 23-24, Monroe finished 2-3 and fourth out of 10 teams.

The opening dual of the invitational was a 4-3 loss to Menomonee Falls Aug. 23. Emma Towne got the win at No. 1 singles 6-3, 6-1, while the Cheesemakers’ No. 1 doubles tandem of Jensen Christensen and Grace Tostrud rolled 6-2, 6-0. At No. 2 doubles, Monroe sisters Kerstin and Kylie Miller won in a tiebreaking nail-biter, 6-4, 4-6, 13-11. Bekah Rath, Monroe’s No. 3 singles player, lost in a tiebreaker 6-3, 7-6 (5), 10-6.

“I feel like we’ve found a lineup that we can be more competitive with,” said Monroe coach Matt Bordner.

In the second match of the meet Aug. 23, the Cheesemakers picked up their first dual win, edging Madison La Follette 4-3.

“It really was a great effort by our entire lineup, and I was just really impressed by how hard our girls worked during their matches,” Bordner said.

Towne won at the top singles flight 6-1, 7-6 (1), but the other three Cheesemakers lost their singles matches. Grace Mathiason, playing in just her second match ever at No. 2 singles, lost 6-1, 6-0, while Rath nearly pulled out the win at No. 3 singles, 2-6, 6-4, 10-8. Cecily Burch was blanked in the No. 4 singles match.

“Bekah played a gritty match,” Bordner said. “She came out with a very strong first set, and then just slowly ran out of steam.”

In the first match Aug. 24, the Cheesemakers lost to Brookfield Academy 4-3. Towne got Monroe’s lone win in the singles matches in the top flight in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.

Christensen and Tostrud were victorious 6-4, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles, while Sadie Conway and Ava Petitjean won the No. 3 doubles match 6-4, 6-4.

“Our girls came out again with a lot of energy and played well,” Bordner said. “We have an inexperienced bottom half of our lineup, but the fact that our girls found a way to keep things close with Brookfield Academy really made me proud.”

In the second dual, the Cheesemakers blanked Beloit Memorial 7-0.

Towne, No. 2 singles Grace Mathiason and No. 3 singles Bekah Rath all blanked their opponents 6-0, 6-0.

Kelli Polnow, playing for Monroe at No. 4 singles, won 6-2, 6-1.

Christensen and Tostrud won the No. 1 doubles match 6-0, 6-0, as did Monroe’s No. 2 doubles tandem of Miller-Miller. Petitjean and Conway won 6-1, 6-0.

“Beloit Memorial had a very inexperienced lineup. Our girls took care of business and it was a nice chance to build some confidence,” Bordner said.

Mukwonago then blanked the Cheesemakers 7-0 in the final dual of the day. 

“Most of our girls kind of ran out of steam,” Bordner said. “Our singles players learned some valuable lessons in this matchup, as Mukwonago had better execution in the important points.”

East Troy Invitational, Aug. 19

Monroe opened the season with a 6-1 loss to East Troy, with Christensen and Tostrud picking up the victory for the Cheesemakers, 4-6, 6-0, 10-6.

“The rest of our matches were lopsided scores, but still had some good rallies,” Bordner said.

Monroe then lost a close match to Whitewater, 4-3. Monroe picked up wins at No. 1 singles and No. 1 and 2 doubles.

Christensen and Tostrud, state qualifiers at No. 1 doubles last fall, are 7-1 through the first week of the season, while Towne is 6-2, already surpassing her win total from a season ago.

“We’ve got plenty to work on, but we are also really pleased where we are at this point in the season,” Bordner said.