By Tiffany L. Rehbein
Last weekend against the Class AA foes, rain halted a strong Blue Pony push for consolation and championship matches.
But Friday and Saturday at Great Falls, Havre will get another shot at some AA competition.
"The boys have a tremendous chance to do well," Havre head coach Sam Dierman said. "We're going to go in there and just see how many of these duals we can win."
Billings West, C.M. Russell, Butte High, and Billings Senior are in Havre's pool. Bozeman, Great Falls High, Billings Skyview, Lewistown, and Cut Bank are in the other pool.
Although challenges are being conducted this week in practice for seeding at Great Falls, Kellen Malone, Nick Heninger, Terrance Wells, and Cody McLain are the top four boys' singles. Teri Sherrill, Crystal Heggen, Lauren Malone, and Nichole Borst are the top four girls' singles.
Mike Frey and Seth Maristuen, Tyler Croft and Levi LaPrath, and Jeremy Heninger and Tyler Vincent are the boys' doubles teams ready to play.
Tiffany Shrauger and Kirsten Kuka, Sam Velk and Breyon Briese, and Nikki Baltrusch and Jana McPherson will compete in doubles on the girls' side.
Kellen Malone and Nick Heninger both qualified for the semifinals at Helena last weekend.
"Last week was a really good week for both of them," Dierman said. "After destroying Cut Bank, Conrad, and Lewistown for weeks in a row, they were just not ready for the higher level of competition. But, that's good for them. They have come back this week just loaded with fire."
The boys have gone 18-0 against Cut Bank, Conrad, and Lewistown in the early season.
Sherrill, Briese and Velk and McPherson and Baltrusch also qualified for the semis last weekend.
"Teri is really playing with confidence and playing really consistently right now," Dierman said. "She has set some pretty high goals and is really pushing herself to get there."
Heggen is also peaking as the season points toward divisional and state tournament time.
"She has played some really good tennis," Dierman said. "She is looking more confident and hasn't let down her guard."
However, doubles look to be the key to total team success.
"I think the doubles will do all right, but they are really the key," Dierman said. "I'm hoping they're all playing their best at the right time."
The Ponies will face Butte at 10 a.m. and Billings West at 6 p.m. on Friday. CMR will see the Ponies at 10 a.m. Saturday and Billings Senior will see Havre at 2 p.m.
The Havre girls defeated CMR 6-1 in a dual earlier this season, and the boys were edged, 4-3.
