MONROE — The Cheesemakers were swept at home by Monona Grove May 3 and then participated in the Greater Madison Area Doubles Tournament May 5.
In the 7-0 loss to Monona Grove, none of the Cheesemakers matches went into a third set or tiebreaker.
Bo Bahler lost the No. 1 singles match 6-0, 6-0, while Chris Andraski fell 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 2 singles match. At No. 3 singles, Gabe Moon lost 6-1, 6-1 and Charlie Frehner came up short at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-4.
“It was a tough day for us today as we played against probably the best team in the conference. Although the scores looked lopsided, we did have some matches that had some nice long rallies and good points,” Monroe tennis coach Matt Bordner said. “I was again proud of Charlie Frehner at the 4 singles spot. He battled against a tough leftie opponent who had a nice slice serve but Charlie really made a match out of it.”
At No. 1 doubles, Luke Quinn and Evan Thompson were swept 6-0, 6-0. Jon Callaway and Heath Bear lost the No. 2 doubles match 6-1, 6-1, which was the same score that Wade Sweeney and Luis Torres had in in the No. 3 doubles duel.
“Our No. 2 and 3 doubles also played especially well today although again they were just outmatched. They showed a lot of effort and intensity and have really made some nice improvements since earlier in the season. We are going to be entering a really important stretch of the season coming up here where we will need our doubles teams to continue to rise to the occasion if we want to grab more team victories this year,” Bordner said.
Monroe then competed in the Greater Madison Area Doubles Tournament for the first time the next day.
“It is a unique tournament because all matches are played as doubles matches. It was a beautiful day and gave some of our singles guys a chance to play doubles which was a lot of fun,” Bordner said.
The Cheesemakers were short three of their 10 varsity players, which Bordner said welcomed a couple of players to step in and have a chance to compete at the varsity level.
“We had a lot of good learning moments and tried some new doubles strategies we’ve been working on in practice. There were a few close matches we should have stayed in better, and we need to also learn to limit our unforced errors. Aside from that, I think it was a fun day for the kids and getting out and playing tennis for 4-5 hours will only benefit them as we head into a very important week coming up,” Bordner said.
Thompson and Bear scored a win over St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy 6-0, 6-1. Sweeney and Torres also scored a victory, toppling Madison Eats’ Solen Desano and Will Eby 6-2, 6-3.
Monroe finished 2-7 on the day, with Baraboo winning three matches, Fort Atkinson 2, Monona Grove one and St. John’s one.
