EVANSVILLE — The Cheesemakers opened the volleyball season with a win, knocking off Evansville in four sets in a road match Aug. 27.

Monroe won the first set 25-17, and then rolled in the second set, 25-10. Evansville bounced back to take the third set 16-25, but the Cheesemakers closed it out in the fourth, 25-17.

“It was a nice win to start the season,” Monroe coach Heidi Witt said. “Our serving and passing was key to our success.”

Cassi Gersbach led the Cheesemakers with 14 kills, while Makayla Harrow and Chloe Bunker each had eight. Harrow and Gersbach also had a block each. Alyse Maurer finished the day with three aces, while Harrow had two. Maurer also had 22 digs, and Lily Frehner finished with 36 assists.

“It was great to start our season by seeing all the hard work the girls are putting in at practice is paying off,” Witt said.

Monroe’s home opener and Parents Night was set for Aug. 29 against Stoughton. The Cheesemakers host its annual invitational Aug. 31

Juda goes 2-1 at quad

MADISON — The Panthers opened their season with a 2-1 dual record at the Madison Abundant Life quad.

Juda opened the day with a sweep of University Lake Schools 25-15, 28-26. In the first game, Jocelyn Rufer had a stretch of three consecutive aces to give her squad a 16-9 lead. In the second set, University Lake raced out to an 8-0 lead before Juda could rebound and slowly chip away at the lead before tying it at 18. Taylor Gollackson capped the night at the service line, getting the final two points needed.

Gollackson finished the match with six kills and seven digs, while Triniti Elmer had four kills, five digs and three aces. Rufer finished with four kills.

Juda lost its second match of the day to Abundant Life, 21-25, 16-25. The Panthers struggled from the service line throughout the match.

In the final contest of the day, the Panthers upended Madison Country Day School 25-7, 25-14. 

“It was a good start to the season,” Juda coach Scott Anderson said. “We hustled and dug balls. We will continue to practice our passing to allow our offense more opportunities. I was really happy with our serving in games 1 and 3, and overall I felt our hitters made good decisions at net.”