MONROE — The Cheesemakers had a lot to be proud of over the past week, despite the lack of dual wins to show for it. Monroe went 0-3 at the Edgerton Quad on Aug. 18, then finished with seven points in their own annual Doubles Tournament on Aug. 22, finishing third behind Baraboo (10) and champion Oregon (12). Milton was fourth with one point.
“I was pretty happy with the girls played, especially in our tiebreaker matches. We went 6-1 in matches that went to super tiebreakers, which was absolutely awesome,” said Monroe coach Matt Bordner. “Last season we really struggled with them, so it was a focus on the coaching end to help our players reset and ground themselves to focus in for that 10 point tiebreaker and take it one point at a time.”
Making strides on the court means a lot to the team, which lost about half of its varsity lineup during the first two weeks of the season. A couple of those missing in action returned to the court for the doubles invite, or look to be ready to return very soon.
“We got Taylor Jacobson back from illness and are getting Krissi Haumer back closer to full strength with her ankle which is exciting,” Bordner said.
Monroe’s pairings for the doubles invite included No. 1 Doubles tandem of Sydnee Conway and Allison Wunschel, Singles players Krissi Haumer and Lindsay Leuzinger, No. 2 doubles Morgan Johnson and Grace Versnik, Kate Kundert and Taylor Jacobson at No. 3 doubles, and then Brooke Hanson and Elly Beckman at No. 4 singles.
“Syd and Allison (1-2 on the day) dropped a few matches that I know they wish they had back, but overall showed they can compete at a high level with some solid teams in the conference which is super exciting,” said Bordner. “Krissi and Lindsay (2-1) played better and better as the day wore on, and I was happy with how they started playing at the net and their improvement with volleys. Both of them will be singles players for most of the rest of the matches, but it’s always nice to get the work in at doubles to improve other parts of your game.”
At No. 2 doubles, Versnik and Johnson finished 2-1, as were Kundert and Jacobson at No. 3 doubles. Beckman and Hanson were 0-3.
“Morgan and Grace really impressed me and I think they might have cemented themselves in at 2 doubles for us,” Bordner said. “Kate and Taylor picked up some big wins in close matches on a day where I think they both didn’t serve quite as well as they’d like.”
At the Edgerton Quad, Monroe lost to Lake Mills 5-2, Kenosha St. Joseph 4-3 and Edgerton 4-3.
“We opened the Edgerton Quad with a pretty beat up lineup and had to get creative with lineups throughout the day. Lydia Setterstrom (who figured to probably play 1, 2, or 3 singles) is out with potential foot fracture. We also didn’t have Taylor Jacobson due to sickness,” Bordner said. “With all of that being said, we still gave ourselves a chance to beat Lake Mills, but dropped two tough tiebreakers at 3-singles and 2-doubles which made the difference in these matches.”
Kundert won 7-5, 4-6, 7-10 at No. 3 singles, while Conway and Wunschel took care of business at No. 1 doubles, 6-1, 6-1.
Against Kenosha, Monroe swept the doubles matches, only to lose all four singles matches. Allison Wunschel and Conway won 6-1, 6-0 in the top flight, while Beckman and Hanson were winners at No. 2 doubles 6-0, 6-1. Sydney Wunschel and Blayke Stites received a victory via forfeit.
“Our injury luck took another turn for the worse, as Morgan Johnson went down during the middle of her doubles match with Lake Mills and so we had to pull her out of the lineup for the rest of the day. We scrapped together some wins and again came one tiebreaker short of winning this matchup, as Grace Versnik couldn’t pull off a close match at 4-singles (4-6, 6-0, 10-4),” Bordner said.
In the finale against Edgerton, it was a similar story — a hard-fought singles match came up just a few moments short of securing a team victory.
“We were really close to pulling this off as well, but came up one tiebreaker short again. Kate Kundert battled her heart out and laid it all out on the line for us. Her and her opponent played an extremely long and grueling match. Kate stuck with it the entire time but just came up a few points short at the end (6-4, 5-7, 10-7), but I couldn’t be prouder of the way she battled all day for us,” Bordner said.
Monroe got victories from Conway at No. 1 singles (6-0, 6-1), Haumer at No. 2 singles (6-4, 6-1) and Sydney Wunschel at No. 4 singles (5-7, 7-5, 10-5).
“Sydnee Conway switched over to singles for us and took care of business, and Krissi Haumer picked up her first win of the year for us at 2-singles which was great for her confidence,” Bordner said. “Sydney Wunschel also plugged into our varsity lineup and made a big splash at 4-singles picking up a close win and gave us a shot at the end.”
The Cheesemakers are back in action Aug. 26-27 at the Mukwonago Invitational, with a Badger West dual next at Portage on Aug. 30.
