MONROE — The Cheesemakers opened the 2018 volleyball slate with a sweep of Evansville Tuesday night, 25-12, 25-17, 25-18.

“We kept our first-game jitters at bay and finished all three sets strong,” said Monroe head coach Heidi Witt. “The second set was a bit slow and lacked energy, but we found a way to come back and get the win.”

Zoee Pond had eight kills and nine aces and Lexi Davis added seven kills and four aces for the Cheesemakers. Lily Frehner had 25 assists and four aces, while Makayla Harrow led Monroe with two blocks.

“We are a young team with the passion to win. When we were down we picked ourselves up,” Witt said. “The girls have been stressing how they want to be a family and come together for each other and they did that tonight. We do have to do things to work on, but we also did some really great things on the court.”

Monroe traveled to Monona Grove on Thursday to open up Badger South Conference play, but results were unavailable at press time. The Cheesemakers host four other schools today in the annual Monroe Invitational, starting at 9 a.m., and return to conference play Aug. 30 at Milton.