APPLETON — The Cheesemakers tennis team competed in the WIAA Division 2 subsectional and sectionals this past week. Their top singles player, senior Matthew Setterstrom, earned his way to the state meet with a strong performance, as did the No. 1 doubles team of Carsen Bartholf and Hamilton Stites.
“We had the most successful subsectional that I have coached,” said Monroe’s Matt Bordner. “We advanced all but two of our flights (No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles) to sectionals.
Alex Gerrits lost an incredibly tight match with Edgewood’s Sawyer Korb in a super tiebreaker, Bordner said. Gerrits was down five points in the super tiebreaker but fought back. In the end, he fell short on the last point on a ball that just caught that the line from Edgewood.
Monroe’s No. 3 doubles tandem of Eli Salzwedel and Graysan Bartholf also lost a super tiebreaker to Edgerton “in a match we knew was going to be tight,” Bordner said.
In the sectional in Appleton, Monroe was able to advance its top flights to the WIAA state tournament, scheduled for next week, June 5-7, at Nielsen Stadium in Madison.
“At sectionals, we officially clinched a state tournament spot for Matthew Setterstrom at No. 1 singles and Carsen (Bartholf) and Hamilton (Stites) at No. 1 doubles. Both advanced through super tiebreaker wins,” Bordner said. “Matthew was the No. 3 seed and beat an undefeated No. 2 seed from Oshkosh Valley, while Carsen and Ham were the No. 4 seed beating the No. 1 seed St. Mary’s Catholic.”
While the three Cheesemakers were the only ones to advance, Bordner was incredibly pleased with how the entire team competed.
“We also had great days from the rest of the guys, even with some tough losses at the other flights. At this phase of the season, nothing is easy, so ultimately I was really proud of how hard we fought and battled for each point,” Bordner said.
He noted that Travis Saunders and Caleb Figi at No. 2 doubles came “incredibly close” to winning their first set in the semifinals, which they went on to lose.
“I think would have changed the trajectory of that match, but ultimately they fell short,” Bordner said. “We ended up taking third place out of 15 teams in the sectional, and continue to take baby steps as a program to getting to the highest level.”
