Minot High’s McKenna Odahlen prepares to return a shot during her doubles match against Bismarck Century on Monday, April 13, at Cameron Indoor Tennis Center. Odahlen and teammate Kyndal McNichols won their match 2-6, 7-5, 10-7. Mike Kraft/MDN

It may have been just the second match of the season for both teams as well as a non-conference contest, but there was still plenty of late-match drama between the Minot High girls tennis team and Bismarck Century at Cameron Indoor Tennis Center.

In a battle of the top two teams in the WDA preseason coaches’ poll, the Majettes won the final two singles matches of the day with no margin for error to grab a 4-3 victory over the Patriots on Monday, April 13.

“This is exactly what we expected in an early non-conference match against probably the second-best team in the West,” Minot High coach Scott DeLorme said. “They have some really good players, so to get out and see this competition, getting in this competitive situation early in the season is definitely a positive for us.

Minot High found itself trailing 3-2 late in the match, but had its top two singles players left to compete in Kyllie Fettig and Ava Thuner. Thuner cruised to 6-1, 6-2 victory over Century’s Kyla Jorgenson at No. 2 singles to square the match, leaving it up to Minot High’s top singles player to deliver the victory.

Fettig didn’t disappoint, using a strong service game and gathering momentum as the match continued en route to a 7-6 (1), 6-3 win against Century’s top singles player Jenny Pitcher. The Our Redeemer’s senior fell behind early in the opening set, but took control from there

“I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, but it’s early in the season, so I’ll get those figured out and it was a fun match,” Fettig said. “I was staying confident and trusting my shots and not getting too stirred up.”

All eyes were on Fettig and Pitcher, literally, as they were the last match to finish up. Thuner completed her match shortly after Fettig and Pitcher began their second set, giving them the stage all to themselves.

“It’s definitely pretty quiet,” Fettig said. “There’s usually pickleball all the time, so it was a bit of a different vibe, but it was fun.”

The pickleball crowd was among those in the audience watching the two top singles players battle for the match victory. Once Fettig took the first-set tiebreaker in which she won all but one point, the Minnesota Crookston commit was firmly in control.

Knowing Minot High (2-0) needed victories from Fettig and Thuner to win the match, DeLorme wasn’t worried about his top two singles players performing to the best of their abilities.

“We have a lot of confidence in those two,” DeLorme said. “They are probably two of the top four players in the state. When you have to win two matches and you’re the two that have to do it, it’s still not easy, but those two really came out and took care of business from the start for the most part.”

The Majettes and Patriots (1-1) split their four singles matches. Century’s Ava Carlson and Sophia Edlund defeated Ella Sherven and Sydney Brown at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively, in straight sets.

The only match of the day needing a third set was at No. 2 doubles. Minot High’s McKenna Odahlen and Kyndal McNichols dropped the opening set, 6-2, but kept the match alive by winning a closely contested second set, 7-5, before winning the tiebreaker 10-7.

Grace Olson and Alivia Sherven delivered a victory at No. 1 doubles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Kate Splonskowski and Brooklynn Roemich. Century’s lone doubles victory came at No. 3 with Aubrey Althoff and Claire Gurholt defeating Bristol Bolton and Brielle Brentrup, 6-4, 6-0.

With the graduation of Lila Olson, doubles was one of the few question marks facing DeLorme and the Majettes this season. After one day of competition, DeLorme saw many positives across his three doubles pairings as well as areas that they will continue to improve upon as the season progresses.

“I liked our communication,” DeLorme said. “Our positioning wasn’t the best. Our aggressiveness can definitely improve. Grace Olson and Alivia Sherven played No. 1 doubles today and they played extremely well. I do believe Grace is a really good singles player and is probably our best doubles player and she took care of things there. We have some things to work on, but communication was good and we saw some things we can build on.”

Earlier in the day, Minot High posted a 7-0 victory over Williston to open its season. Thuner, Olson, Fettig and Alivia Sherven all notched their first of two victories on the day. Thuner won at No. 1 singles, while Olson didn’t drop a set in her sweep at No. 2 singles. Fettig and Ella Sherven partnered to earn a win at No. 1 doubles and Alivia Sherven paired with McNichols at No. 2 doubles for an unblemished win.

Odahlen and Brown also delivered singles wins and Bolton and Chelsey Zieska won their match at No. 3 doubles without dropping a point.

The Majettes won four matches against the Coyotes 6-0, 6-0. They dropped just seven sets across their seven matches.

Minot High was happy to be able to play at least a pair of competitive matches after the weather cancelled its annual Minot Round Robin. The biggest drawback to the event’s cancellation is it didn’t give the Majettes the opportunity to get their first glimpse at the entire WDA field.

“That’s just an event where you can see everybody from Day 1,” DeLorme said. “Even though you may not match up with all the top players between singles and doubles, you get to see them and that’s always a good thing. You usually get in a lot of tennis and a lot of sets crammed into one day. Unfortunately, the girls miss out on a lot with the weather we have, but we made do.”

The Majettes will face the Coyotes (0-2) for the second time in as many days when they travel to Williston on Tuesday, April 14, for a 3 p.m. match at Davidson Park Tennis Courts.