MADISON - Monroe freshman Matt Monahan learned from his first match against Madison Edgewood's Charlie Kirsh.
Monahan breezed past Kirsh 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Badger Conference tennis tournament on Friday to advance to today's semifinals.
Monahan avenged a three-set loss to Kirsh earlier this season.
"It feels great to show people I can play and beat people I'm expected to lose to," Monahan said. "I learned his strengths and I adjusted. I knew from the first match that I could beat him. In the first match, he overpowered me. My plan was to get to the net and control it from there. He's a great player. His weakness is when he comes to the net."
Monroe coach Brad Saugstad was excited about Monahan's performance.
"That was by far his best match of the season," Saugstad said. "It was a good time for his best match of the season. He played like he had nothing to lose. He has been getting better as the season goes on."
Saugstad said the key was that Monahan stayed up mentally.
"His opponent was getting frustrated and he took advantage of it," he said.
Monahan defeated Milton's Sam Miller 6-2, 7-6 (7) in the first round. He had a 4-1 lead in the second set before Miller made a comeback.
"It's always good early on to face a tough opponent and face someone who pushes you," Saugstad said. "If he gets down, he always knows he can comeback."
Monroe's Taylor Soddy lost for the fourth time this season to Oregon's Jackson Schneider, this time by a 6-3, 7-5 score in the No. 1 singles quarterfinals. The junior earned a shot in the quarterfinals by defeating Milton's Kenneth Yap 6-1, 6-1 in the first round.
"He came out aggressive and hit some good shots," Saugstad said of Soddy's quarterfinal match against Schneider. "As the match went on, he got a little tentative. He picked it up and came back in the second set. He just ran out of gas in those last couple of games."
Monroe freshman Eric Bush defeated Baraboo's Zoryg Kusyk 6-4, 6-2 in the first round at No. 3 singles. In the quarterfinals, Bush lost to No. 2-seeded Cody Mack of Sauk Prairie in three sets 7-6, 4-6, 6-2. It was a marked improvement from a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Mack earlier this season.
Cheesemakers freshman Kevin Noriega lost his first-round No. 2 singles match to Oregon's Alec Onesti 6-3, 6-1.
Freshman Jeremy Miller and senior Luke Andraski at No. 3 doubles defeated Stoughton's Kai Hedstrom and Austin Scheel 6-4, 6-4 to open the tournament. In the quarterfinals, McFarland's Jonathan Taylor and Logan Meinert defeated the Monroe duo for the second time in a week, this time by a 6-3, 6-2 score.
Senior Cristian Noriega and junior Kevin Kohlstedt lost in the first round to Monona Grove's Cam Meyferth and Grant Smith 2-6, 6-4 (10-8).
At No. 2 doubles, Bob Seichter and Josh Riese lost a heartbreaker to McFarland's Adam Cook and Sam Divita 5-7, 6-3 (17-15) in the first round.
"We got up in the tiebreaker and we just got a little tentative," Saugstad said. "We just couldn't fight through it."
The Cheesemakers lost all three tiebreakers they played.
"When you play so hard and lose the tiebreaker, that's tough," Saugstad said. "We just couldn't come up with the big shots to win the tiebreakers. Even in the matches we lost, we played well. We played good tennis."
Monahan breezed past Kirsh 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Badger Conference tennis tournament on Friday to advance to today's semifinals.
Monahan avenged a three-set loss to Kirsh earlier this season.
"It feels great to show people I can play and beat people I'm expected to lose to," Monahan said. "I learned his strengths and I adjusted. I knew from the first match that I could beat him. In the first match, he overpowered me. My plan was to get to the net and control it from there. He's a great player. His weakness is when he comes to the net."
Monroe coach Brad Saugstad was excited about Monahan's performance.
"That was by far his best match of the season," Saugstad said. "It was a good time for his best match of the season. He played like he had nothing to lose. He has been getting better as the season goes on."
Saugstad said the key was that Monahan stayed up mentally.
"His opponent was getting frustrated and he took advantage of it," he said.
Monahan defeated Milton's Sam Miller 6-2, 7-6 (7) in the first round. He had a 4-1 lead in the second set before Miller made a comeback.
"It's always good early on to face a tough opponent and face someone who pushes you," Saugstad said. "If he gets down, he always knows he can comeback."
Monroe's Taylor Soddy lost for the fourth time this season to Oregon's Jackson Schneider, this time by a 6-3, 7-5 score in the No. 1 singles quarterfinals. The junior earned a shot in the quarterfinals by defeating Milton's Kenneth Yap 6-1, 6-1 in the first round.
"He came out aggressive and hit some good shots," Saugstad said of Soddy's quarterfinal match against Schneider. "As the match went on, he got a little tentative. He picked it up and came back in the second set. He just ran out of gas in those last couple of games."
Monroe freshman Eric Bush defeated Baraboo's Zoryg Kusyk 6-4, 6-2 in the first round at No. 3 singles. In the quarterfinals, Bush lost to No. 2-seeded Cody Mack of Sauk Prairie in three sets 7-6, 4-6, 6-2. It was a marked improvement from a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Mack earlier this season.
Cheesemakers freshman Kevin Noriega lost his first-round No. 2 singles match to Oregon's Alec Onesti 6-3, 6-1.
Freshman Jeremy Miller and senior Luke Andraski at No. 3 doubles defeated Stoughton's Kai Hedstrom and Austin Scheel 6-4, 6-4 to open the tournament. In the quarterfinals, McFarland's Jonathan Taylor and Logan Meinert defeated the Monroe duo for the second time in a week, this time by a 6-3, 6-2 score.
Senior Cristian Noriega and junior Kevin Kohlstedt lost in the first round to Monona Grove's Cam Meyferth and Grant Smith 2-6, 6-4 (10-8).
At No. 2 doubles, Bob Seichter and Josh Riese lost a heartbreaker to McFarland's Adam Cook and Sam Divita 5-7, 6-3 (17-15) in the first round.
"We got up in the tiebreaker and we just got a little tentative," Saugstad said. "We just couldn't fight through it."
The Cheesemakers lost all three tiebreakers they played.
"When you play so hard and lose the tiebreaker, that's tough," Saugstad said. "We just couldn't come up with the big shots to win the tiebreakers. Even in the matches we lost, we played well. We played good tennis."
