MONONA - The Monroe High School volleyball team dropped its Badger South Conference opener Thursday to Monona Grove in three sets 25-20, 25-18, 25-17.
"The girls can't walk away with their heads down," Monroe coach Heidi Witt said. "They have the talent and the skill. We are still getting to know each other. They will put it together."
Monroe (0-2, 0-1 Badger South) trailed 11-2 in the first set before rallying and dropping the game 25-18.
"I think we just got down on ourselves a little bit in the second set," Witt said. "I just didn't want them to fall apart like we did sometimes last year. They worked harder to come back."
Monroe junior Whitney Wells had a team-high eight kills, and sophomore Sydney Mathiason had seven kills. Monroe senior Paige Murphy had 15 assists, and junior Hannah Neuenschwander had 13 assists. Junior Lexi Hilliard had two digs, and Mathiason had one block.
"I think our serve receive was struggling tonight," Witt said. "Monona Grove was scrappy getting to the ball."
Another area the Cheesemakers are looking to fine-tune is their blocking at the net.
"We had trouble setting up our blocking where it needed to be," Witt said.
The Cheesemakers will play five matches in the Monroe Invitational starting at 9 a.m. Saturday with a match against Mount Horeb.
Juda 3, Ithaca 1
JUDA - Juda senior Megan Powers got hot from the service line in the final set, and senior Robyn Wahl had a key tip to lead Juda over Ithaca in its season opener.
After dropping the first set 28-26 the Panthers bounced back and won three straight sets 25-19, 25-15, 25-23. Powers, who had 14 assists, had seven straight service points in the fourth set to give the Panthers a 24-18 lead before Ithaca stormed back. With the Panthers leading 24-23, Wahl came through with a tip to seal the win.
"Those serves were just huge," Juda coach Scott Anderson said. "I thought she (Powers) was serving us out."
Wahl led the Panthers with three blocks. However, none were bigger than her tip to clinch the fourth set.
"It doesn't go down as a stat, but Robyn was a big force for us in serve receive and passing," Anderson said.
Juda juniors Chelsea Burkhalter and Sara Jordan each had six kills. Junior Alexis Goecks racked up a team-high 31 digs. Sophomore MacKenzie Byrne had four aces. The Panthers had five service errors in the first set, which they overcame.
"We missed a lot of serves in the first set," Anderson said. "They were scrappy with us. I think the difference was we got back to our normal serving percentage. We shoot for about 85 percent."
Juda will play in the eight-team Six Rivers tournament Saturday at Monticello.
"The girls can't walk away with their heads down," Monroe coach Heidi Witt said. "They have the talent and the skill. We are still getting to know each other. They will put it together."
Monroe (0-2, 0-1 Badger South) trailed 11-2 in the first set before rallying and dropping the game 25-18.
"I think we just got down on ourselves a little bit in the second set," Witt said. "I just didn't want them to fall apart like we did sometimes last year. They worked harder to come back."
Monroe junior Whitney Wells had a team-high eight kills, and sophomore Sydney Mathiason had seven kills. Monroe senior Paige Murphy had 15 assists, and junior Hannah Neuenschwander had 13 assists. Junior Lexi Hilliard had two digs, and Mathiason had one block.
"I think our serve receive was struggling tonight," Witt said. "Monona Grove was scrappy getting to the ball."
Another area the Cheesemakers are looking to fine-tune is their blocking at the net.
"We had trouble setting up our blocking where it needed to be," Witt said.
The Cheesemakers will play five matches in the Monroe Invitational starting at 9 a.m. Saturday with a match against Mount Horeb.
Juda 3, Ithaca 1
JUDA - Juda senior Megan Powers got hot from the service line in the final set, and senior Robyn Wahl had a key tip to lead Juda over Ithaca in its season opener.
After dropping the first set 28-26 the Panthers bounced back and won three straight sets 25-19, 25-15, 25-23. Powers, who had 14 assists, had seven straight service points in the fourth set to give the Panthers a 24-18 lead before Ithaca stormed back. With the Panthers leading 24-23, Wahl came through with a tip to seal the win.
"Those serves were just huge," Juda coach Scott Anderson said. "I thought she (Powers) was serving us out."
Wahl led the Panthers with three blocks. However, none were bigger than her tip to clinch the fourth set.
"It doesn't go down as a stat, but Robyn was a big force for us in serve receive and passing," Anderson said.
Juda juniors Chelsea Burkhalter and Sara Jordan each had six kills. Junior Alexis Goecks racked up a team-high 31 digs. Sophomore MacKenzie Byrne had four aces. The Panthers had five service errors in the first set, which they overcame.
"We missed a lot of serves in the first set," Anderson said. "They were scrappy with us. I think the difference was we got back to our normal serving percentage. We shoot for about 85 percent."
Juda will play in the eight-team Six Rivers tournament Saturday at Monticello.
