EAST TROY — The Cheesemakers’ girls tennis team opened their season at the East Troy Quad Aug. 13-14.
Monroe blanked Delavan-Darien 7-0 for their lone team win, and lost to Oregon 6-1, Sauk Prairie 5-2 and Whitewater 5-2.
“Our girls took care of business against Delavan-Darien,” Monroe coach Matt Bordner said. “Our athleticism was probably the biggest factor along with just playing solid tennis all-around.”
Monroe 7, Delavan-Darien 0
Delavan-Darien, Emma Towne took care of Paulina Cruz in the No. 1 singles match 6-1, 7-5. At No. 2 singles, Bekah Rath defeated Annyce Peralta 6-2, 6-1.
“Emma Towne played a great first set and was able to close out a close second set,” Bordner said.
Kerstin Miller, playing at No. 3 singles for the Cheesemakers, beat Melisa Doloir 6-1, 6-0, and Kelli Polnow came back to win the No. 4 singles match over Isabel Leal 6-7 (9), 6-1, 10-8.
“Kelli Polnow got her first win as a varsity player, which was good for her confidence. She will play mostly JV this year, but it’s been nice to get her some varsity experience with a few girls gone and this will be a nice building block for her,” Bordner said.
In the No. 1 doubles match, Grace Tostrud and Jensen Christensen blanked Ian Flores and Angel Tazelaar 6-0, 6-0. Samm Huizenga and Jessa Lucas handled Erica DeJong and Lithzy Aleman in the No. 2 doubles 6-0, 6-1. At No. 3 doubles, Monroe’s Oliva Bobak and Grace Mathiason beat Jazmin Zuniga and Jocelyn Duran 6-0, 6-0.
Oregon 6, Monroe 1
Tostrud and Christensen, playing No. 1 doubles, picked up the lone match win for the Cheesemakers, 6-1, 6-1 over Sarah Boerigter and Gianna Schulz. In the No. 2 doubles, Lucas and Huizenga lost 7-6, 6-0 to Sophia Choles and Ashley Johnson, and Bobak and Mathiason fell in the No. 3 doubles match to Joanie Sommers and Jordan Streiff 6-3, 6-1.
“Jensen and Grace picked up a nice win against a tough conference pair they’ll see again later this season,” Bordner said. “Some of our other girls showed signs, but it was definitely a match where they were just more skilled and experienced than most of our girls. They were strong volleyers and well-coached.”
At No. 1 singles, Towne lost to Isabelle Krier 6-2, 6-2. Rath fell in the No. 2 singles match to Jordana Burkeland 7-5, 6-2. In the No. 3 singles match, Miller lost to Anna Donovan 6-2, 6-0, and Polnow lost to Rachell Depuydt in the No. 4 singles match 6-0, 6-1.
Sauk Prairie 5, Monroe 2
Miller picked up a win in the No. 3 singles match 6-1, 3-6, 12-10 over Katie Yanke in one of the tightest matches of the day. In the No. 3 doubles match, Bobak and Mathiason also won in three sets, defeating Haley Greenheck and Cassi Miller 1-6, 6-1, 10-8.
“I was proud that Kerstin and Grace and Olivia pulled out their tiebreakers. We’ve worked a bit on tiebreakers early on in practice to prepare for these situations so hopefully that helped,” Bordner said.
At No. 1 doubles, Christensen and Tostrud lost in a tiebreaker to Camryn Ballweg and Bridget Fabian 2-6, 6-2, 10-7.
“Grace and Jensen played a really strong first set but then just didn’t play up to their own caliber in the second set and tiebreaker. I think they would have taken down that doubles pair nine times out of ten, but it goes to show that you have to always bring your ‘A’ game the whole match,” Bordner said.
At No. 2 doubles, Lucas and Huizenga fell to Grace Fauerbach and Emily Querio, 6-3, 2-4.
In the No. 1 singles flight, Town lost to Quinlyn Mack 6-1, 6-0. Rath fell in the No. 2 singles match to Katie Mack 6-1, 6-0. At No. 4 singles, Olivia Joyce defeated Polnow 6-3, 6-1.
“We played well at times against Sauk Prairie, especially our doubles teams. Sauk had some nice singles players at one and two, but I think Emma and Bekah both got better from playing the tough competition,” Bordner said.
Whitewater 5, Monroe 2
Christensen and Tostrud won the No. 1 doubles match over Odessa Sonn and Sophie Olson 6-4, 6-2, and Huizenga and Lucas beat Melanie Reyes and Mariana Cano at No. 2 doubles 6-4, 6-3. At No. 3 doubles, Bobak and Mathiason lost to Marissa Mueller and Tessa Papcke 6-4, 6-2.
“Our doubles teams played well against Whitewater, which is a good sign. These matches were important to us because we could easily see Whitewater in some of our subsectional matches,” Bordner said.
Sydney Treder blanked Towne at No. 1 singles, and Rath lost to Hannah Delaney 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Cassidy Laue, playing at No. 3 singles, defeated Kerstin Miller 6-1, 6-1 and Kaitlyn Portall swept Polnow at No. 4 singles.
“Again, we played a few girls higher in the lineup than normal due to a few girls being gone. It won’t be until the week of August 27 that that our lineup is at full strength for the rest of the season,” Bordner said. “It’s good to get our girls this experience, especially some of our singles players who are playing up in the lineup like Bekah Rath. Jensen and Grace picked up an important win and really our doubles teams showed their strengths while our singles players were outmatched.”
Monroe’s next set of matches was yesterday and today at the Mukwonago Invite, and the Cheesemakers open regular season dual play Tuesday at Portage.
