WHITEWATER — The Monroe boys tennis team opened its 2023 season with a pair of wins at the Whitewater Triangular on Wednesday, April 5.
Although the weather was less than ideal, the Cheesemakers pulled out two wins — 5-2 over Whitewater and 6-1 over DeForest.
The only losses against the Whippets came in tiebreakers. No. 3 singles Gavin Eckerman fell 7-5, 3-6, 11-9 to Keith Camron, and No. 4 singles Clayton Waski lost 4-6, 6-1, 10-4.
“Gavin Eckerman had a tough match at No. 3 singles, losing eventually in a match tiebreaker, but I think he learned a lot from that match. I look forward to him growing from it,” Monroe head coach Matt Bordner said. “Clayton Waski also dropped a match tiebreaker, so for our only losses to come in close matches was a positive. You’d love to pick up at least one of those tiebreakers, but we will work on that moving forward.”
The remaining spots in the lineup won in straight sets. Matthew Setterstrom rebounded from a tight, 7-5 first set at No. 1 singles to dominate in the second 6-0. At No. 2 singles, Wes Saunders won 6-2, 6-1.
Monroe doubles swept easily. At No.1 doubles,
Max Petitjean and Ryan Mathiason won 6-1, 6-1. At No. 2 doubles, Carsen Bartholf and Louis Armstrong cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win, while Brandon Bassett and Trey Wyss recorded a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles.
With the same lineup, Monroe defeated DeForest 6-1. Eckerman fell in another tiebreaker at No. 3 singles.
Setterstrom won 6-1, 6-0. Saunders, who played DeForest’s No. 1 singles player from a year ago, swept 6-4, 7-6 (3). Waski picked up his first varsity singles win 7-5, 7-5.
Mathiason and Petitjean ran to a 6-3, 6-2 win, while Bartholf and Armstrong recorded a 6-1, 6-3 win. Bassett and Wyss worked together for a 6-2, 6-4 win.
“Our doubles teams played really well,” Bordner said. “They will get tested more in the coming weeks, but it was a good start for these crews. We were missing Mitch Ferguson, so we had to shift around our No. 2 and No. 3 doubles all day, but we still made the most of it which was great to see.”
