Minot North senior Addy Clark placed sixth at the WDA Individual Tournament and qualified for the state tournament last season. Clark was both an all-state and all-WDA selection as a junior. Eric Pearson/WDA Sports

Wins can be hard to come by during a program’s infancy, but each victory helps to build belief in the process, chemistry amongst teammates and confidence as individuals and as a team.

In its first two years competing at the varsity level, the Minot North girls tennis team’s biggest and most important victory to date was also its most recent, and one that carries with it an increased sense of belief, chemistry and confidence, as well as excitement heading into this season.

That victory came in Jamestown on May 19 in a WDA Tournament Play-In match, as the Sentinel knocked off the Blue Jays, 3-2, to earn their first appearance in the WDA Tournament and give them their first taste of postseason tennis. Minot North won both doubles matches and Emersyn Kopp delivered a victory at No. 2 singles to put the Sentinels over the top as the No. 10 seed.

“Getting wins was very important for us,” Minot North coach Gwen Erickson said. “Winning is hard. It is very hard to do and, having a new program, that doesn’t always come easy. Getting that win was really good for our girls because it gave them a glimpse at what it could be. Going into this year, it’s going to be really good for the girls because they have confidence in themselves.”

The Sentinels lost their play-in match to Bismarck High in their first varsity season in 2024, where they finished 2-12 overall and 1-8 in the WDA. Last season, Minot North went 2-14 overall and 1-8 in WDA play. All four of their wins have come against Jamestown.

“Right now, we just want to get some more wins as a team against some other teams and hopefully work our way up the WDA rankings,” Kopp said. “That’s a big goal of ours. We really want to have fun. For a lot of us, it’s our last year as seniors, so that’s also another goal.”

The Sentinels were picked to finish eighth among the 10-team WDA in the preseason’ coaches poll, ahead of Bismarck St. Mary’s and Jamestown and two points back of Bismarck High.

One thing Minot North lacked in its one season at the JV level and then the following two at the varsity ranks was that senior voice and leadership. That’s because the Sentinels hadn’t yet had a senior on the roster. This year’s roster features four seniors, including Kopp, Addy Clark, Kate Weishaar and Abby Maerk.

“We’re going to try and keep everyone positive,” Kopp said. “Sometimes we get a little down on ourselves, so we want to ensure that everyone has the most fun and stay competitive and we keep wanting to win matches.”

Clark became the first Minot North girls tennis player in program history to qualify for the state individual tournament after finishing sixth at the WDA Tournament. Clark entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed and won her first two matches in straight sets over Bismarck’s Sophia Schneider and Century’s Aubrey Althoff to guarantee her a spot at state.

Clark was tied for the team-lead in match victories with four at No. 1 singles. Freshman Julia also finished with four wins, primarily serving as No. 5 singles. The Sentinels received match victories from all six singles positions throughout the season.

“We have a good group of girls that work really hard and we’ve turned good athletes into good tennis players,” Erickson said. “Right in the beginning, trying to get them to buy into the program was a big thing. This year, having our first group of seniors, it’s going to be special and very bittersweet for me, but I’m excited to see how these four years pay off for these girls.”

The growing pains have been difficult at times, but knowing every member of the team is capable of going out and earning the Sentinels a match victory keeps spirits high.

“It is very hard, but knowing we’re a team and being able to lift ourselves up as we always say we need five wins no matter what,’ Erickson said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s at No. 1 or if it’s at No. 6, we need to find those wins and having each other and just knowing in tennis, it’s hard and you’re the only one that can change that.”

Erickson said that Clark will serve as Minot North’s No. 1 singles player as she has throughout her career with the Sentinels. But outside of that, the rest of the positions have yet to be solidified, saying that there definitely will be some new looks to the doubles teams. Kopp played No. 2 singles last year. Braxtyn Bennett was at No. 3, Weishaar was at No. 4, Stoner was at No. 5, and Alyviah Kopp was the primary choice at No. 6. The Sentinels used 11 different doubles combinations, with the Clark-Weishaar pairing producing the most wins with three.

While Erickson figures out the lineup, the Sentinels continue to focus on the fundamentals leading up to the beginning of the season.

“We just focus on the little things, like not double faulting during a match and if you win a good point, that’s a win,” Emersyn Kopp said. “Tennis is hard. You can win more points, technically, than the other person and still lose the match, so it’s just being positive in the things that are good and being able to push aside the negative but still focus on the things that need to be worked on, It’s not all about winning; it’s about improving.”

Erickson believes that her team has grown just as much in the mental game as they have in the physical aspect, which will pay dividends during the more tense moments.

“Our confidence is going to be a lot higher than previous years,” Erickson said. “That’s going to be a big strength and we’ve also been working on the mental game of tennis. It is such a mental game. You’re out there by yourself, so we’ve been working on that and I think it’s going to show off this year.”

Win or lose, the senior class just wants to have fun and enjoy their final year with the team that they helped build from the ground up alongside Erickson and the rest of the coaching staff. Emersyn Kopp recalls there only being around 10 people in the program at her first practice as a freshman. This year, practices have upwards to 50 athletes spread across all levels.

“Freshman year, this core group we have here, we started as a JV team and that was definitely a learning experience,” Emersyn Kopp said. “For a lot of us, this is our second or third sport, so we’ve kind of grown another skill. We’ve had so much growth. We’ve grown with our teamwork and the camaraderie and we have so much fun together.”

While the Minot Round Robin scheduled for Monday, April 13, at Hammond Park was cancelled due to rain in the forecast, Minot North will still partake in a pair of matches that day at Cameron Indoor Tennis Center. The Sentinels will play Williston at 8 a.m. and Bismarck Century at 1:30 p.m.