Apr 25, 2026
Minot North’s Alyviah Kopp tracks down a ball during her doubles match on Friday, April 24, at Cameron Indoor Tennis Center. Kopp and teammate Braxtyn Bennett won in three sets, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1, over Bismarck St. Mary’s Tessa Rykowsky and Sophie Juelson. Mike Kraft/MDN
As the Minot North girls tennis team continues to grow in its third season at the varsity level, so does the program’s record book.
Playing without two of their top three singles players, the Sentinels persevered and set a number of program records in their 6-3 victory over Bismarck St. Mary’s on Friday, April 24, at Cameron Indoor Tennis Center. Minot North won four singles matches and two doubles matches to improve to .500 on the season.
Minot North’s victory on Friday was its third of the season and its second in conference play. Both set a new program record. Entering this season, the Sentinels hadn’t won more than two matches in a single season and had won just one WDA regular season contest in each of their first two years.
“It’s showing the bigger picture of our program and showing what’s being done in the offseason,” Minot North sophomore Braxtyn Bennett said. “We definitely put in a lot of time to build the program and that shows, especially with the wins we had this week.”
The Sentinels (3-3 overall, 2-2 WDA) won consecutive matches for the first time in program history, defeating Williston earlier in the week. It was also their first victory against St. Mary’s. They currently sit tied for fifth with Bismarck Legacy in the WDA standings, their highest positioning ever.
“Starting to get wins and consecutive wins is extremely rewarding for our team,” Minot North coach Gwen Erickson said. “We have put in so much work in the offseason and these past four years, so being able to get wins is a great feeling.”
With both Kate Weishaar and Emersyn Kopp out of the lineup due to illness, Abby Maerk and Grace Lee got the call up from the junior varsity squad to pair together at No. 3 doubles, as well as serve as No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively. Kopp also missed Minot North’s match against Williston, with Maerk taking her place.
Maerk and Lee were unable to come away victorious in their doubles match against Svea Dirk and Paige Haas, falling 6-0, 6-2, but Minot North still entered singles play with a lead after both the Sentinels’ No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams posted wins. Addy Clark and Julia Stoner matched up together for the second time this season and earned their first wins as a pairing, besting Ramona Heick and Kate Wilson, 6-0, 6-4.
“We’ve played with each other a couple times and we’re good friends and when we play together we work really hard,” Stoner said. “We’re both really good at the net. Getting that win was a really good thing for us.”
In terms of record, Bennett and Alyviah Kopp have been Minot North’s most successful doubles pairing thus far this season, winning both of their matches entering Friday. They stayed undefeated together, but it took a comeback to get it done. The duo led 6-5 in the opening set, but Tessa Rykowsky and Sophie Juelson fought back to take the next game and the subsequent tiebreaker to win the opening set.
Bennett and Kopp stormed back from there, winning 12 of the final 15 games to take the final two sets and the match, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1.
“To be able to come back from that, you have to shake off the last few points,” Bennett said. “A big mindset we have is that one point just equals one point. If you make mistakes, it’s going to happen and you can’t hit winners all the time. You have to be able to come back from that and we knew it was still really early in the match.”
Bennett and Kopp improved to 3-0 when playing together. Bennett has been a part of four of the team’s six doubles victories this season.
“It’s definitely a lot of trust we have in each other when we’re playing,” Bennett said. “She’s very quick at the baseline and I think we’re both pretty confident at the net. That’s definitely one of our strong suits.”
Bennett was back on the court no less than five minutes later for her singles match against Wilson. Despite a rushed warmup, she cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Lee earned her first varsity singles victory in her first attempt, knocking off Juelson 6-4, 6-1.
“I am very happy with how well Grace and Abby were able to step up today and fill our lineup,” Erickson said. “With them practicing with the rest of our varsity lineup, I had full confidence in them today being able to go out and play.”
Also earning her first victory of the season was Addy Clark at No. 1 singles. She dropped the opening set to Rykowsky 2-6, but won a highly contested second set before sweeping the deciding set for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory.
“Being able to see Addy get this win is huge,” Erickson said. “With playing some of the top players early on this season, getting this win is a big confidence booster.”
Stoner earned her team-best fourth singles win of the year after defeating Heick, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 2 singles.
Haas and Dirk delivered singles victories for the Saints (2-4, 1-3).
Minot North’s match at Jamestown scheduled for Saturday, April 25, was postponed due to inclement weather. The Sentinels next match is at home against Mandan on Tuesday, April 28, at 4 p.m. at Hammond Park.
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