Home Court Advantage

The first two meets of the Havre High tennis team’s 2015 season were windy and very windy. So it was a rough ride at the end of March for the Blue Ponies.

However, Havre’s third meet of the season, and its only one played on the tennis courts in Havre, was anything but a rough ride. The weather cooperated nicely, and the Blue Ponies turned out a strong overall performance at their Havre Invitational, which was played Saturday at the Bill Vaughey Memorial Tennis Courts and the Montana State University-Northern tennis courts.

“What a great day,” said Havre head coach George Ferguson. “The weather gave us a bigtime break. We couldn’t have asked for much better conditions. And our kids performed really well. We had over 30 Blue Ponies playing in our tournament, and they all did a great, great job. I was very happy, and I thought we accomplished a lot of our objectives.”

For the second straight Havre Invite, the Pony boys swept the two championships in a tournament that featured the Ponies, as well as Cut Bank, Lewistown and Conrad.

Junior Jeff Miller dismantled the 1-2 single’s field on his way to his second straight Havre Invite title. The 2014 Class A state champion won three matches without dropping a single game, including a 6-0 6-0 win over Cut Bank’s Spencer Czech in the championship match. In doubles, the Pony tandem of Jerod Boles and Noah Landgraf also cruised to a Havre Invite title. The squad blew past the competition, including a stellar 6-3, 6-3 win over Lewistown’s Parker Phillips and Anders Pederson in the finale.

“At the top of our lineup, our boys were very good Saturday,” Ferguson said. “I was thrilled with the way Jeff played. He was pretty much untouchable, and I know that’s how he wants to play every time he steps on the court. I also know winning this tournament and playing well on our courts is very important to him, and he couldn’t have done it much better than he did on Saturday. And Jerod and Noah, we only put them together four weeks ago, but man are they playing well. They have a strong grasp of the doubles game already and they beat some very good teams on Saturday. It was a lot of fun to watch.”

Also in the 1-2 bracket, sophomore Jake Sedahl played well, going 1-2, including being just one point away from beating Czech in the semifinals. In doubles, Havre also got a fifth-place finish from Wyatt Lindbloom and Nate Korb, while in the 3-4 singles bracket, senior Jamie Lieberg played well on his way to a second-place finish, and sophomore Dustin Haas wound up third.

“Across the board, I thought it was an outstanding tournament for our boys,” Ferguson said. “I thought we looked much, much better than we did last week in Conrad, whether we won or lost, and that was the single biggest goal of the tournament. The varsity showed a lot of improvement. And our freshmen and newcomers, they did a great job as well. For them, the learning curve is pretty steep right now, and I thought all of those guys did an outstanding job, especially considering they were all playing against varsity players and doubles teams all day. So, again, I thought every single one of our boys did an outstanding job on Saturday.”

The Havre girls didn’t capture any individual titles Saturday, but the Ponies played well nonetheless.

In the 1-2 singles draw, senior Tatiana Ralph easily reached the championship match before falling to Cut Bank’s Dakota Dosch 6-1, 6-2. Freshman Paige Nelson also won a match in the same draw, and played at a high level for her first Havre Invite.

In doubles, the junior tandem of Reggie Bernard and Alara Vogel, playing their first meet together, were extremely strong. They knocked off the top team from Lewistown, not once, but twice on their way to a fourth-place finish.

And the duo not only found success Saturday, but they enjoyed playing on their home courts for the first and pretty much only time this season.

“I like playing here a lot better,” Vogel said. “The support that we get here is nice. Otherwise, it's just like any other (tournament), but it's a little more fun playing at home.”

“It’s really nice playing at home,” added Bernard, who is in her first season of tennis.

Havre also scored several more wins in the doubles draw. Juniors Rainey Stoner and Madison Huebsch finished fifth, while fellow juniors Ashley Hoffland and Meggan Smith added a victory in the consolation bracket.

At the MSU-Northern courts, a host of Havre newcomers battled it out in the 3-4 singles draw, with sophomore Chido Chickwava finishing a solid fourth.

“I was very pleased with what I saw from the girls,” Ferguson said. “We are a relatively inexperienced girls team this year, and they are really just scratching the surface of their potential right now. I thought Tati (Ralph) played some good tennis, and all of our doubles teams did the things we were looking for out of them, win or lose. Reggie and Alara had a great tournament, especially considering they hadn’t played together before and really had never played doubles much. Then, we had a lot of younger players playing in their first tournament, and I think they got a lot out of the day, and that’s the most important thing right now, for all of our girls to just focus on improving and gaining experience.”

And as pleased as Ferguson was with how his kids played and with the final results, there was something bigger than the matches themselves, something he was even more proud of his team for.

“What I love about our team is their enthusiasm for the game and their enthusiasm for the program. Even our first-year kids are already showing that, and it was very evident on Saturday. All of our kids played very hard, gave it their all and played with a lot of passion, and that’s very important to me. That’s what our program is about, it’s about Pony Tennis Pride, and every single one of our kids showed that at our tournament, whether it was our seniors or our first-time players. All of our kids also represented our program and our school with class and sportsmanship and I’m proud of them for that. It was another great day for Havre High tennis.”

With the Havre Invite now in the books, the Ponies will go out on the road for the remainder of the season, with the exception being a scheduled girls dual with Chinook Tuesday in Havre. Then, Friday andSaturday, the Ponies will travel to Cut Bank for the Class A Invite.

2015 Havre Invitational Tennis Tournament

No Team Scores: Havre, Cut Bank, Conrad, Lewistown

BOYS

Singles 1-2

1st rd – Jeff Miller, HAV def. Austin Padilla, CON, 6-0; Carl Wright, LEW def. Josh Biegler, CB, 6-2; Jake Sedahl, HAV def. Cordell Wittmier, CON, 6-3; Spencer Czech, CB def. Danyon Rice, LEW, 6-5 (7-5).

Semifinals – Miller, HAV def. Wright, LEW, 6-0; Czech, CB def. Sedahl, HAV, 6-3.

Consolation 1st rd – Padilla, CON def. Biegler, CB, 6-5 (7-5); Wittmier, CON def. Rice, LEW, 6-4; Consolation semifinals – Padilla, CON def. Sedahl, HAV, 6-4; Wright, LEW def. Wittmier, CON, 6-2; Consolation final – Wright, LEW def. Padilla, CON, 6-1.

Championship – Miller, HAV def. Czech, CB, 6-0, 6-0.

Singles 3-4

1st rd – Brandon Ostby, CB def. Barrett Kilgore, HAV, 6-0; Vander Swensen, HAV def. Kendall Holden, HAV, 6-2; 2nd rd – Jamie Lieberg, HAV def. Brady Ophus, HAV, 6-1; Dalton Jensen, LEW def. Kyle Kirkpatrick, HAV, 6-1; Dustin Haas, HAV def. Ostby, 6-2; Kody Neill, LEW def. Swensen, HAV, 6-0.

Semifinals – Lieberg, HAV def. Jensen, LEW, 6-4; Neill, LEW def. Haas, HAV, 6-4.

Consolation 1st rd – Kirkpatrick, HAV def. Holden, HAV, 6-3; Kilgore, HAV def. Ophus, HAV, 6-4; Consolation 2nd rd – Ostby, CB def. Swensen, HAV, 6-0; Kilgore, HAV def. Kirkpatrick, HAV, 6-1; Consolation semifinals – Haas, HAV def. Ostby, CB, 6-5 (7-5); Jensen, LEW def. Kilgore, HAV, 6-1; Consolation final – Haas, HAV def. Jensen, LEW, 6-1.

Championship – Neill, LEW def. Lieberg, HAV, 8-5.

Doubles

1st rd – Jordan Castle/Jesse Burtness, CB def. Kennedy McKay/Trey Murphy, HAV, 6-2; Dawson Berg/Parker Larson, CON def. Xavier Plouffe/Chase Farrar, Lewistown, 6-4; 2nd rd – Noah Landgraf/Jerod Boles, HAV def. Brandon Vanderbush/Michael Bender, CON, 6-0; McKye McCarthy/Trip Crouse, LEW def. Castle/Burtness, CB, 6-1; Berg/Larson, CON def. Wyatt Lindbloom/Nate Korb, HAV 6-5 (7-4); Parker Phillips/Anders Pederson, LEW def. Trey Hanson/Jeffrey Ralph, HAV, 6-0.

Semifinals – Boles/Landgraf, HAV def. McCarthy/Crouse, LEW, 6-1; Phillips/Pederson, LEW def. Berg/Lawson, CON, 6-3.

Consolation 1st rd – Lindbloom/Korb, HAV def. McKay/Murphy, HAV, 6-0; Castle/Burtness, CB def. Plouff/Ferrar, LEW, 6-2; Consolation 2nd rd – Lindbloom/Korb, HAV def. Hanson/Ralph, HAV, 6-2; Castle/Burtness, CB def. Vanderbush/Bender, CON, 6-0; Consolation semifinals – McCarthy/Crouse, LEW def. Lindbloom/Korb, HAV, 6-0; Castle/Burtness, CB def. Berg/Larson, CON, 6-4; Consolation final – McCarthy/Crouse, LEW def. Castle/Burtness, CB, 6-2.

Championship – Landgraf/Boles, HAV def. Phillips/Pederson, LEW, 6-3, 6-3.

GIRLS

Singles 1-2

1st rd – Dakota Dosch, CB def. Josy Allen, LEW, 6-0; Trinity Cox, CON def. Paige Nelson, HAV, 6-1; Abby Gatz, LEW def. Carly Behr, CON, 6-5 (7-1); Tatiana Ralph, HAV def. Paige Johnson, CB, 6-3.

Semifinals – Dosch, CB def. Cox, CON, 6-4; Ralph, HAV def. Gatz, LEW, 6-0.

Consolation 1st rd – Nelson, HAV def. Allen, LEW, 6-0; Johnson, CB def. Behr, CON, 6-0; Consolation semifinals – Gatz, LEW def. Nelson, HAV, 6-5 (8-6); Johnson, CB def. Cox, CON, 6-3; Consolation final – Johnson, CB def. Gazt, LEW, 6-0.

Championship – Dosch, CB def. Ralph, HAV, 6-1, 6-2.

Singles 3-4

1st rd – Katrina Sandoval, CB def. Kaylee Nash, HAV, 6-0; Chido Chickwava, HAV def. Macy Curtiss, CB, 6-1; Kaylee McGarvey, CB def. Meggie Zook, HAV, 6-2. 2nd rd – Sandoval, CB def. Sandoval, CB def. Miller, HAV, 6-0; Chickwava, HAV def. Lauryn Greenburg, LEW, 6-1; McGarvey, CB def. Marca Herron, HAV, 6-0; Taylor Woods, LEW def. Maecee Titeca, HAV, 6-0.

Semifinals – Sandoval, CB def. Chickwava, HAV, 6-1; Woods, LEW def. McGarvey, CB, 6-0.

Consolation 1st rd – Nash, HAV def. Titeca, HAV, 6-3; Curtiss, CB def. Herron, HAV, 6-0; Zook, HAV def., Greenburg, LEW, 6-3; Consolation 2nd rd – Nash, HAV def. Curtiss, CB, 6-3; Miller, HAV def. Zook, HAV, 6-3; Consolation semifinals – McGarvey, CB def. Nash, HAV, 6-3; Chickwava, HAV def. Miller, HAV, 6-5 (7-5); Consolation final – McGarvey, CB def. Chickwava, HAV, 6-3.

Championship – Woods, LEW def. Sandoval, CB, 8-2.

Doubles

1st rd – Alex Kraft/Allie Anderson, CB def. Mariah Moulton/Cassie Gongaware, CON, 6-0; Carly Taft/Haley Taft, CON def. Ashley Hoffland/Meggan Smith, HAV, 6-1; Reggie Bernard/Alara Vogel, HAV def. Donelle Novak/Anyssa Rousch, CB, 6-2; Dania Jones/Dalayne VanDyke, CON def. Megan Lindbloom/Alex Donaldson, HAV, 6-2; Rainey Stoner/Madison Huebsch, HAV def. Megan Barrett/Riley Bird, CB, 6-5 (8-6); 2nd rd – Kraft/Anderson, CB def. Taft/Taft, CON, 6-0; Bernard/Vogel, HAV def. Ciarra Backer/Beth Olson, LEW, 6-5 (7-3); VanDyke/Jones, CON def. Kody Myhre/Aubrey Godbey, LEW, 6-4; Summer Elmore/Alexia Arndt, LEW def. Stoner/Huebsch, HAV, 6-2.

Semifinals – Kraft/Anderson, CB def. Bernard/Vogel, HAV, 6-1; VanDyke/Jones, CON def. Elmore/Arndt, LEW, 6-3.

Consolation 1st rd – Hoffland/Smith, HAV def. Moulton/Gongaware, CON, 6-2. Consolation 2nd rd – Stoner/Huebsch, HAV def. Hoffland/Smith, HAV, 6-1; Myhre/Godbey, LEW def. Novak/Rousch, CB, 6-5 (7-2); Backer/Olson, LEW def. Lindbloom/Donaldson, HAV, 6-2; Taft/Taft, CON def. Barrett/Bird, CB, 6-2; Consolation 3rd rd – Stoner/Huebsch, HAV def. Myhre/Godbey, LEW, 6-3; Backer/Olson, LEW def. Taft/Taft, CON, 6-3; Consolation semifinals – Elmore/Arndt, LEW def. Stoner/Huebsch, HAV, 6-3; Bernard/Vogel, HAV def. Backer/Olson, LEW, 6-1; Consolation final – Elmore/Arndt, LEW def. Bernard/Vogel, HAV, 6-4, 6-1.

Championship – Kraft/Anderson, CB def. VanDyke/Jones, CON, 6-1, 6-2.