The Minot High girls tennis team poses with the championship trophy after winning back-to-back state dual titles on Thursday, May 28, at Grand Forks Choice Health & Fitness. Photo provided by Minot High Tennis.

Entering last season, Minot High girls tennis coach Scott DeLorme and the rest of his coaching staff believed they had a championship-calbour team.

They were right.

After returning all but one member from that year’s undefeated run, the staff once again believed that the Majettes’ ceiling for success remained unchanged.

And again, they were right.

The Majettes completed their second consecutive undefeated season with a 4-1 victory over Valley City in the state title match on Thursday, May 28, in Grand Forks to capture back-to-back state dual titles and their ninth state championship in program history. The Majettes avenged their loss to the Hi-Liners in the 2024 state title match, which is the last match Minot High lost, winning all 44 matches since. It’s the second time Minot High has won consecutive titles, winning in 1978 and 1979 for its first two state championships.

With their ninth state title, the Majettes (22-0) now have the second-most state championships in North Dakota girls tennis, breaking a tie with Grand Forks Central. Grand Forks Red River has the most with 22, the last coming in 2017. The Majettes are the only team with multiple state titles since 2018.

“It’s been an accumulation of everything over the last two years and we knew last year we felt really good about what we had,” DeLorme said. “Graduating one last year, we felt really good about the team we were bringing forward. It’s one of those things where we don’t talk about the success. We just kind of go out and play and you could tell (on Thursday) from the very first moment that they were excited. They were playing loose and relaxed and when we play loose and relaxed, we feel very good about what we can do.”

As opposed to last year’s run through the state tournament in which the Majettes swept all three matches, capped off with a 5-0 victory over Grand Forks Red River, Minot High faced a bit more adversity this time around, especially in its 4-1 quarterfinal victory against West Fargo Sheyenne. Sarea Gu defeated Kyllie Fettig, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 1 singles and Ava Thuner got pushed to a third set by Avni Benerjee before ultimately coming away with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles. McKenna Odahlen and Ella Sherven won crucial points late to fend off Annika Knodle and Brooklyn Pickard, 7-5, 7-6 (8) at No. 1 doubles and Alivia Sherven and Sydney Brown were pushed to a third set by Ayla Henney and Casey Deng, but came away with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory at No. 2 doubles. Grace Olson at No. 3 singles was the only one not sweating her match, topping Elise Ardayfio, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 3 singles.

“(Thursday morning) with Sheyenne, that was probably the one match I had a little concern over because they have Sarea Gu, who is the best player in the state and they have a good No. 2 player and then on top of that we played it outside in 90 degree weather, which is for both teams, but none of these girls had seen this weather before and you could tell everyone was moving slower and everyone was a little bit fatigued throughout the match,” DeLorme said. “When we were able to get inside, I think that changed things.”

The Majettes matched up with WDA foe Bismarck Legacy in the semifinal round, and although their doubles once again got pushed, it didn’t prove to matter as Minot High easily swept through singles play to secure a 4-1 victory. Fettig and Thuner both posted 6-0, 6-0 victories and Olson bested Aubrey Brecht, 6-3, 6-2. Ella Sherven and Odahlen edged past Joya Martian and Calista Hosek, 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 at No. 1 doubles. Legacy picked up a win at No. 2 doubles, with Anna Martin and Zoe Flemmer topping Kyndal McNichols and Alivia Sherven, 6-1, 6-7 (7), 12-10.

“I think a lot of the teams have just made it a focus that they are going to attack our doubles,” DeLorme said. “We think we have three of the top five singles players in the state, so when you have that at Nos. 1, 2, 3, it’s hard for teams to match up. So our doubles teams were oftentimes getting the other team’s best players in those situations.”

With that in mind, DeLorme and his staff mixed up the lineup against Valley City. Thuner and Olson moved to No. 1 doubles and Alivia Sherven and Sydney Brown were moved to singles. Ella Sherven and McKenna Odahlen moved from No. 1 doubles to No. 2 doubles. Fettig at No. 1 singles was the only constant.

The move paid off, as the Majettes swept doubles play. Thuner and Olson defeated Skye Nielson and Rylyn Johnson, 6-2, 6-3, and Ella Sherven and Odahlen knocked off Lexi Svenningsen and Kinlee Sufficool, 6-3, 6-4, to secure back-to-back titles. Fettig and Brown won their respective singles matches in straight sets.

“When we got to the championship match, we as coaches just stressed to play loose and have fun and to their credit, they came out and played their best tennis in the last match,” DeLorme said.

Minot High’s title capped off another dominant season on the tennis court. Along with their ninth state title, the Majettes also captured both their 16th WDA regular season title and 16th WDA Tournament title. In dual competition, the Majettes won 147 of their 159 individual matches. They won 13 matches via sweep, including six in conference play. It was the fifth undefeated season in program history (1979, 1985, 2023, 2025, 2026).

DeLorme said winning back-to-back state titles is no easy feat, regardless of a team’s talent level. The Majettes became the first girls program to win consecutive titles since Grand Forks Red River, when it won 14 straight from 2002-15.

“It’s incredibly difficult,” DeLorme said. “As you look at the last number of state champions for the boys and girls, there’s probably not a lot of them. You generally do graduate a couple and other teams get better and sometimes they have up-and-coming players. It’s a rare feat and it’s maybe getting a bit rarer as time goes on, but we feel like our girls have built something within our program and they just have a belief and a trust in each other that when they take the court, they are going to find a win to get the job done.”

With the dual tournament complete, Minot High shifts its focus to the state individual tournament, which began on Friday, May 29. State champions for both singles and doubles will be determined on Saturday, May 30.