MADISON — Monroe’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Grace Tostrud and Jensen Christensen were the only Cheesemakers to advance to Day 2 of the Badger Conference tournament held Sept. 27-28 at UW-Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The duo went unbeaten on the opening day of the tournament, but lost both matches on the second day.
“Day 1 of the Badger Conference Tournament was very competitive,” Monroe coach Matt Bordner said. “I feel like all of our players played up to their potential in the first round, which was nice to see. It’s really hard to make it to Day 2 of this tournament, and so it was exciting for Grace and Jensen to again advance forward.”
Christensen and Tostrud won the first match of the tournament in convincing fashion over Reedsburg’s Brooke Benseman and Danielle Peyer, 6-0, 6-0. Their second match went three sets deep against Watertown’s Sydney Linskens and Abby Marr, but the Cheesemakers prevailed 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
On Day 2, DeForest sisters Samantha and Cecile Fuchs blanked Christensen and Tostrud, 6-0, 6-0.
“The Fuchs sisters have been pretty close to untouchable all season, and stayed undefeated today. They both play really sound tennis and make very few mistakes. I think Grace and Jensen enjoyed the challenge and had fun playing against opponents that were that good,” Bordner said.
Beaver Dam’s Abby Kiesow and Hannah Budde then took the next match 6-2, 6-4 over the Monroe duo, which now has just three losses on the season with one nonconference dual left before subsectionals.
“They missed a lot of volleys they usually hit, and quite a few that they hit weren’t angled and put away like they should have been,” Bordner said. “I give a lot of credit to both of them for never giving up, as they were actually up 4-3 in the second set and had plenty of opportunities to make it more interesting.”
Elsewhere on Day 1, Emma Towne won her first No. 1 singles match 6-1, 6-2 over Portage’s Britta McKinnon. Towne then lost to Monona Grove’s Hailey Munz 6-0, 6-0.
“Emma Towne earned the 7-seed in the 1-singles flight, which was really an accomplishment in itself. She took care of her first opponent, but unfortunately faced Munz as the 2-seed who is simply a level above Emma,” Bordner said. “I give a lot of props to Emma though — she’s worked hard this year and found herself in the middle of the pack in a strong singles 1-flight in the Badger Conference this year.”
Bekah Rath lost her only No. 2 singles match 6-0, 6-2, while Grace Mathiason went into a tiebreaker before losing the No. 3 singles match 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-8. Kelli Polnow fell in her only No. 4 singles match, 6-3, 6-2.
“(Mathiason) had plenty of opportunities to close out her opponent, but couldn’t quite capitalize,” Bordner said. “Grace’s growth as a tennis player has been fun to watch, and I think she walked away from this match knowing she could have fun but also acknowledging that she played well and continues to make strides.”
Monroe sisters Kerstin and Kylie Miller lost a battle in their only No. 2 double match to Sauk Prairie 7-5, 6-4. Sadie Conway and Ava Petitjean fell at No. 3 doubles to Beaver Dam 7-6 (1), 6-3.
“Sadie and Ava started hot in their first set and were up 5-3 at one point. I think if they take that first set, their match would have ended up different but unfortunately I think it kind of took the wind out of their sails to lose a lead like that,” Bordner said. “The Miller sisters started slow and found themselves down 0-5. They settled in, won the next 5 games, and really played neck and neck with their opponents the rest of the way.”
The Cheesemakers had a scheduled nonconference match against Edgerton Oct. 1 and then will take part in the WIAA Division 2 subsectional in Racine Oct. 7-8, with sectionals slated for Oct. 9-10 at East Troy.
