Minot North’s Addy Clark advanced to the state tournament for the second consecutive year after a pair of wins during the first day of the WDA Individual Tournament on Friday, May 22, at Hammond Park. Mike Kraft/MDN

For the second consecutive year, both Minot High’s Kyllie Fettig and Minot North’s Addy Clark advanced into the top eight at the WDA Individual Tournament to earn a spot at next week’s state tournament.

Fettig – a senior at Our Redeemer’s Christian School – received a first-round bye as the top-seeded player in the field and won both of her matches on Friday, May 22, at Hammond Park. Fettig began her day with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Jamestown’s Emerson Pfau and secured a spot in Saturday’s semifinals with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Bismarck Legacy’s Joya Martian.

Minot High’s No. 1 singles player will have to wait until tomorrow to learn her opposition, as the final match of the day between Bismarck Century’s Jenny Pitcher and Mandan’s Eva Benz was suspended. Benz is the No. 4 seed in the field, while Pitcher is the fifth seed. Fettig is 3-0 against Pitcher and 2-0 against Benz so far this season.

Fettig finished third in the individual tournament last season.

Clark will also be among the final 16 individuals at the state tournament. A year after becoming Minot North’s first state qualifier, she replicated that performance this year with a pair of wins as the No. 6 seeded player. A day removed from a heartbreaking dual loss to Bismarck St. Mary’s in a state qualifier, Clark won both of her contests against the Saints. She defeated Celine Fleck 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round and moved on to the quarterfinals by topping Tessa Rykowsky 6-0, 6-4. Her tournament run came to an end in the quarterfinals at the hands of defending WDA champion Shayna Klitzke of Dickinson, 7-6 (1), 6-1.

Along with Fettig and Klitzke, Williston’s Avy Ator – the No. 2 seed – is also still in the running for the WDA title. The semifinal matches are both slated for Saturday, May 23, at 10:30 p.m. at Hammond Park, with the championship match at 2 p.m. A third-place match will take place at 1:30 p.m.

Fettig, Martian, Pitcher, Benz, Klitzke, Clark, Ator and Century’s Kyla Jorgenson are the eight singles representatives from the West Region.

Both of Minot High’s doubles pairings punched their ticket to the state tournament as well, with Grace Olson and Ava Thuner still in the running for a WDA title. Olson and Thuner received the No. 1 seed and earned a bye into the second round, where they defeated Jamestown’s Daphne Olson and Ginger Gasal, 6-0, 6-0. They advanced to Saturday’s semifinals with a 6-0, 6-1 win against Williston’s Maci Heller and Dani Tinklenberg. The duo will play Jamestown’s Anna Hronova and Elise Roberts, who knocked off Minot High’s other doubles team of Ella Sherven and McKenna Odahlen in the quarterfinals.

Sherven and Odahlen still advanced to state with their win over St. Mary’s Kate Wilson and Svea Dirk, 6-1, 6-0.

Both of Minot North’s doubles teams fell one match short of making it to state. Kate Weishaar and Emersyn Kopp fell to Legacy’s Zoe Flemmer and Anna Martian, 6-2, 6-4, and Julia Stoner and Braxtyn Bennett dropped their match to Dickinson’s Morgan Daley and Erin Daley, 6-3, 6-4.