Minot North edges Jamestown girls tennis 5-4 in tight dual

Mylee Michel and Katelyn Monson were the Jamestown pair at the center of the night’s narrowest turning point, dropping a 6-2, 6-3 doubles decision to Minot North’s Emersyn Kopp and Brooklyn Bennett in a dual that finished 5-4 Tuesday at Two Rivers Activity Center.

That one court mattered because Western Dakota Association girls tennis is decided in a six-singles, three-doubles format, and Minot North won two of the three doubles matches to secure the team victory. With nine matches on the board, Jamestown was never far from flipping the result, but the Sentinels did just enough to stay ahead of the Blue Jays.

For Jamestown coach Isaac Mimong, the loss was less about a lopsided mismatch than about how little separated the two programs. The Blue Jays stayed within striking distance through the full dual, which is exactly the kind of result that can shape confidence as the season tightens and every match starts to carry more postseason weight. Minot North is coached by Gwen Erickson.

The timing also matters. The NDHSAA girls tennis calendar moved past its opening date of March 30 and first contest date of April 10, and the next checkpoints arrive fast: regional entries are due May 13 at noon, the West Region tournament is set for May 21-23 in Minot, and the state tournament follows May 28-30 in Grand Forks. A 5-4 dual in early May can ripple into both momentum and seeding as teams jockey for position.

Jamestown and Minot North also entered the season with similar expectations. In the 2026 WDA preseason poll, Minot North was picked eighth and Jamestown ninth, a sign that the league viewed the two teams as closely matched before a ball was struck. Tuesday’s result fit that forecast, with doubles deciding a dual that could have gone the other way with one more break or one more set of clean points.

It was also a familiar script. Minot North beat Jamestown 5-4 in a 2024 WDA dual, and that meeting was decided by doubles as well. For the Blue Jays, the latest loss showed how thin the margin remains in conference play, and how quickly one court can turn a strong outing into a final score that feels one point away from a different story.