Jimmy Lafakis/MDN The Minot High volleyball team celebrates after scoring a point in the second set of Tuesday night's win over Watford City. Minot earned a 25-18, 25-10, 25-23 victory.

After the Minot High School volleyball team won the first set over Watford City on Tuesday night, Sherry Carlson saw the team’s confidence grow.

Soon, the head coach would witness Minot’s mettle.

The Majettes earned a three set victory (25-18, 25-10, 25-23) in a Class A West Region contest over the Wolves. After taking the first two sets, the Majettes needed to buckle down to claim the sweep.

“They came in the third set kind of flat,” Carlson said. “In the second set, they dominated. When they came into the third set, they took it for granted. (Watford City) jumped out on us right away.”

That third set could have tipped the momentum in Watford City’s favor. In Carlson’s words, the Majettes “kept swinging.”

“That is one of the things we are working on right now,” Carlson said. “Learning to come from behind. That is not something that we’re very good at, so that was the goal. ‘We’re going to fight for this. We’re going to get this one.'”

The Wolves (2-7, 1-1 WDA) stayed close to the Majettes (4-6, 1-2 WDA) throughout the first set, but were never able to gain substantial ground. The Majettes seemingly had an answer for whatever Watford City threw at them.

Minot took control of the second set early on and never relinquished it.

“As they play more and more together, they get more confident,” Carlson said. “They know who’s behind them and beside them. We just need more of that to happen.”

After a rocky start to the third set, the Majettes stayed resilient and mounted a comeback. A final kill from junior middle blocker Morgan Wheeler sealed the deal.

“We can be down on ourselves,” Wheeler said. “But once we get back up, we can do some great things.”

The Majettes posted 26 kills on the night. Junior outside hitter Alyson Lucy led the team with nine, while senior outside hitter Allie Nelson added eight.

Junior setter Paige Ackerman and senior setter Paige Rosencrans shared the offensive wealth. Ackerman handed out 12 assists and Rosencrans added 11.

“We have really good team chemistry,” Nelson said. “We play really well together, and we’re having a good season so far. We just want to keep it rolling.”

Defensively, Nelson posted a team-high 15 digs. Wheeler contributed 11 to add to Minot’s team total of 53.

The Majettes tallied 10 service aces. Ackerman served four aces and Rosencrans added three, while senior libero Tia Haskins, senior outside hitter Jayda Bennett and Nelson recorded one ace apiece.

Watford City senior defensive specialist Tayle Kaczmar led the Wolves with four aces on the night.

Both teams will host their next games, as the Majettes will welcome Bismarck St. Mary’s on Thursday and the Wolves will face Bismarck Century on Friday. Each match will begin at 7 p.m.

“We just need to play with intensity on every ball,” Nelson said. “Sometimes, we get in some slumps. We need to minimize those and keep going forward.”

Jimmy Lafakis covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JJLII30.