MONROE — For the first 13 serves, it appeared the Cheesemakers might be able to hang with DeForest, one of the top teams in the Badger North. The Norskies had squandered five out of their first seven serves and trailed Monroe 7-6.
After that, however, DeForest rolled. The Norskies went on to score 19 of the next 25 points to take Set 1, 25-13, then won the second set by the same score and capped the sweep with a 25-20 victory in the third frame.
“We knew coming in they were going to be a good, solid team — and we haven’t seen hitting like that against us,” Monroe coach Heidi Witt said. Many of DeForest’s kills were of the powerful and fast variety. “It was definitely good for them to see that. I think as the evening progressed, we continued to get better — we were getting blocks on them and started digging things up.”
The Cheesemakers had just one kill in the entire first set — off the hands of junior Kyla Ziolkowski. DeForest, meanwhile, got 8 kills alone from Natalie Compe. If it hadn’t been for 10 Norskie errors leading to Cheesemaker points, the score of the first set could have been devastatingly lopsided.
“I think we were better at the service line than they were,” Witt said.
Monroe appeared to settle in a bit more in the second set, and pulled even at 5-5 early on. A 7-1 run put DeForest out comfortably by six points, and a 9-3 run made it 23-11 before too long.
By the third set, the Cheesemakers had picked up some confidence. An early 4-2 lead turned into an 11-7 deficit, then 16-9 and later 20-13. But a 5-1 run brought the score back to 21-18, and moments later a kill by Lydia Butler made it 24-20.
Witt was impressed by the third set, and the late run to keep it tight.
“I was proud of them and they battled and they didn’t let up and kept their intensity high, and their energy high,” Witt said. “Communication was lacking here and there, but you know what? We talked it out in timeouts and gave feedback, and then they took it to the court and followed through with it.”
A short serve ended the night for the Monroe varsity starters, as a fourth-set exhibition took place for the varsity reserve players.
Taylor Jacobson led Monroe with 5 kills, while Zoee Pond had 4. Taylor Broke led the team with 2 blocks, and Lydia Butler finishes with a team-high 8 digs. Pond added two aces, and Katie Hayes had 11 assists.
