JANESVILLE — The Cheesemakers picked up its first win of the season in its last try. Monroe edged Janesville Parker 4-3 April 6. 

“It was a beautiful day for tennis, and I was proud of how hard our girls competed,” Monroe coach Matt Bordner said.

Kylie Miller won her second match of the season at No. 1 singles, beating Lucy Barnes 6-2, 6-4. Alicia Brunton, at No. 4 singles, held strong against Cashmea Prochazka, 6-4, 6-4.

“Kylie was a wall all match as she just continued to make her opponent work hard for every point. In the second set, Kylie was up 5-2 but her opponent started heating up and picked up the next 2 games to make it 5-4. Kylie was wearing down, and we definitely knew she had to win that 2nd set if she was going to win the match because she was exhausted,” Bordner said. “Alicia Brunton continued her strong play at No. 4 singles for us. She’s found a great rhythm as a steady baseliner and is getting more comfortable coming up to the net too.”

Monroe won the match thanks to a pair of doubles victories. At No. 2 doubles, sisters Melena and Bella Brunton walked away with a tight 7-5, 6-4 win. At No. 3 doubles, Bre Giasson and Morgan Johnson scored a 7-5, 6-1 victory.

“Melena and Bella played a tight match at No. 2 doubles that ended up being the fourth match we needed to pick up for our win. Their communication was much better and they excelled with their court movement. They are definitely still progressing and make nice strides together each match,” Bordner said. “Bre and Morgan came out flat in their 1st set and had a lot of unforced errors, but I was really proud of how they responded in their second set. It was a match I was pretty confident in, and to see them come out with more energy and take control was really refreshing in that second set.”

Cecily Burch fell at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-2. Allison Wunschel continued to improve at No. 3 singles, but lost in a tiebreaker 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

“Allison played a 3-set match that lasted about 2 hours and 45 minutes. She won the first set pretty handily, and then lost a competitive second set. The third set went back and forth, with both players taking leads throughout the set. It came down to a tiebreaker, and Allison had a 4-3 lead in the 7-point tiebreaker at one point. Her opponent rattled off a series of great shots and responded well to win the tiebreaker. It was a great match from both players,” Bordner said. “Cecily again battled hard at 2 singles, and had a lot of nice rallies. I think her opponents recently have had an advantage with their serves, and that’s probably been the biggest difference in her matches.”

At No. 1 doubles, Sydney Conway and Maddy Wels lost 6-0, 6-1.

Up next for Monroe is subsectionals, scheduled for April 12 at Stoughton. The seeding meeting is the day before, and Bordner doesn’t expect many favorable seeds. 

“But I think having some success this season even with a very inexperienced team will definitely benefit us moving forward,” he said.