Ryan Ladika/MDN Cambry Frantsvog (8) sets the ball for her teammates during the first set of Minot High’s Thursday evening contest against Dickinson.

The Minot High Majettes returned from a lengthy absence for their fourth match of Western Dakota Association play Thursday night, but the team was narrowly edged by the visiting Dickinson Midgets in a thrilling five-set match, 25-18, 19-25, 20-25, 25-17, 14-16.

The Majettes (2-2 WDA, 4-7 overall) entered the contest coming off the longest break between matches of the season. Minot had played its first three contests in the span of the first week of WDA play, and then received the benefit of a week off following its four-set loss to Century Sept. 9.

Minot head coach Sherry Carlson was grateful for the extended time off, noting that the two-match weeks provide inadequate time to shore up weaknesses exposed in during games.

“When we have extended time, it does give us an opportunity to work on the things that you really need to work on,” she said. “This gave us a few days to work on the things that really needed to be tweaked, so I like that part of it. I do also know that now we’re going to go to two a week and it’s going to change things.”

The Majettes welcomed to the Magic City Campus a Dickinson (2-4 WDA, 6-7 overall) squad reeling from its own losses throughout the last week of play. The Midgets were credited with two losses in their last match, a double-counter due to the fact that Mandan is only a scheduled opponent once, to extend their official losing streak to four.

Kills by Zoe Zarr and Mikkail Nehring kicked off the first frame on a high note for the Majettes, pushing them out to an early 2-0 lead. After a Dickinson answer, Mariah Evenson added a pair of kills and Alex Nesheim earned an ace on a 7-1 Minot run that extended their team’s lead even further to 9-2.

Minot halted a Midgets run at three, and Evenson and Zarr each recorded kills to help the Majettes to a 17-8 lead. Dickinson would rally for a 7-2 stretch to pull the score to 19-15, but another Nesheim ace and kills from Nehring, Evenson and Melayna Strand helped clinch the first frame by a 25-18 score.

Dickinson went on to win very tightly-contested second and third sets by respective 25-19 and 25-20 scores. Neither team could put together any kind of lengthy run in either set, as Minot’s 4-0 run that tied the second frame at 11 apiece in the second and Dickinson’s 5-0 stretch to open a 10-7 lead in the third were the longest runs of both frames.

With their backs against the wall in the fourth set, the Majettes stormed back with a 25-17 win to force a fifth set. The two squads went back-and-forth throughout the first six points of the frame before the Midgets tore off a 5-1 run and took a 10-7 lead.

The Majettes cranked their game up to 11 after falling behind by three. A trio of Dickinson mistakes and a Cambry Frantsvog ace ignited a 12-2 Majettes run that slingshotted Minot out to a 19-12 lead. Kills by Evenson and Micah Walter, as well as an Avery Lunde ace, all factored in to the 6-4 Minot run that clinched the 25-17 win in fourth set and forced the decisive fifth frame.

Kills by Nehring and Strand, as well as a Dickinson net violation, pushed the Majettes out to an early 4-2 lead in the final set, and another Evenson kill helped Minot tie the game back up at six after a 4-0 Dickinson run.

The two teams again went toe-to-toe in the war of attrition, as Minot took a slim 9-8 lead before Dickinson struck back and regained an 11-9 advantage. Walter and Nehring each added kills to push their team out in front once more 12-11, but a 5-1 Dickinson run sealed its 16-14 win in the set and sent Minot to its second consecutive loss.

“It just remains the same, we keep working on the things we have to get better at,” Carlson said after the match. “And we will do that. That’s what we’ll focus on this week, is the things that need to get tweaked, and just push forward. It’s so early in the season that we just have to stay after what we know works for us.”

Evenson’s 16 kills led her team, with Nehring (12) and Zarr (10) also reaching double-digits. Nesheim recorded five aces, followed by Frantsvog’s two and Lunde’s one. Defensively, Grace Sanders added 17 digs, Frantsvog had 12 and Evenson finished with 10.

The Majettes will return to action Sept. 21 for another home tilt against Turtle Mountain Community High School. Start time is slated for 7 p.m.