MADISON — Monroe seniors Aaron Roidt and Chris Giasson reached the Round of 16 and went 1-1 at the WIAA Division 2 State Doubles Tournament June 2-3 at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

On the first night of the tournament, the pair of Cheesemakers knocked off Hank Axelrod and Jude Multhauf of Eau Claire Regis 7-5, 6-1.

“We definitely came out with some nerves,” said Monroe coach Matt Bordner. “This was Chris’s first state appearance, and it was Aaron’s second, but playing the state tournament back at Nielsen this year is just a totally different experience for our guys. The intensity is heightened, and the crowd really brings it too. 

“After winning a close first set with Regis, our guys definitely loosened up quite a bit and cruised through the second set. Chris had strong service games and Aaron played a really steady match and was a force at the net.”

The next day, Catholic Memorial’s Trent Adamson and Nate Carson beat Monroe 6-2, 6-3. Catholic Memorial had also beat Monroe at the sectional, 6-1, 6-1.

“We knew their doubles team was a pair of hard hitters and probably better baseliners than us. Our goal was to try and win our service games and then break a few of theirs and see if we could hang around and hope for some unforced errors from them,” Bordner said. “We started the second set down 0-3, but I give Chris and Aaron a lot of credit for coming out with energy and flipping two straight games in our favor to bring it to 2-3. I thought that was our chance to make a move in the match, but Catholic Memorial did a great job of holding down the next few games and closing out the match.”

West Salem’s Jack and Kyle Hehli defeated Brookfield Academy’s Vibhu Guda and Pranav Gogineni 6-1, 6-1 for the championship. 

“It was a tremendous season from Chris and Aaron and the whole team. I’m very proud of the growth from last season to this season, and I think this success sets the tone for our future teams as well as expectations continue to rise,” Bordner said. “We had tremendous parent and fan support throughout the season and great senior leadership throughout. We’re looking forward to next season already and hopefully continuing to take steps forward as a program.”