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The Havre High boys and girls tennis teams are passed the halfway point in their season. Now, the Blue Ponies look to make a push towards the Central A Divisional tournament, which is less than a month away.
New to Havre's schedule this season is an all-day dual with the Lewistown Golden Eagles Saturday in Lewistown. For the last four years, Havre has had this weekend open on its schedule, and while Blue Pony head coach George Ferguson has always made the most of it with an intra-squad dual, he says competing against another team is always a better option.
Havre High's Ellery Bresler hits a forehand during a girls doubles match at the Havre Invitational tennis tournament earlier this month. The Blue Pony tennis teams are hoping to play Saturday in Lewistown.
"We have always had a lot of fun with the intra-squad day. It was great for team bonding and we always got as much out of it as we could," Ferguson said. "But with Lewistown also having an open date, we saw an opportunity to get more real matches in. And that's what these kids need right now. More live competition.
"And because it will be just us and Lewistown, we will be taking all of our junior varsity kids as well," he added. "And I'm excited about that because our JV kids don't get enough matches. They don't get the chance to travel much and that's disappointing because we want a chance to build our programs from the freshmen on up. So this day will be great for our program, and we're hoping to continue it in the future."
With Lewistown having eight courts, Ferguson also noted that the dual will be able to be played with full matches, at least for the varsity players. That's something else Havre hasn't seen yet, but will in the coming weeks. Up until Saturday, the Blue Ponies have played all shortened pro sets.
"That's another advantage," Ferguson said. "Many of our kids will get some full best two-out-of-three matches on Saturday. That's the format we use at divisionals and state, so getting some of those matches in this early in the season will really be beneficial."
Head-to-head matches with the Golden Eagles are also a top priority for the Ponies. Last week in Cut Bank, the Pony girls bested the Eagles 5-2, while the HHS boys lost 4-3. And for the varsity lineups, Havre and Lewistown are pretty even on both sides. Top Blue Pony singles player Jeff Miller and No. 2 Ned Malone will both likely play Lewistown's Andrew Bruno on Saturday. Bruno is one of the returning placers from the 2012 Central A. At the No. 3 spot, Zach Hellegaard is undefeated this season, and he'll likely get a chance to move up and play No. 2, while Jacob Holden holds down the No. 4 spot for HHS.
On the girls side of singles, the Blue Ponies will likely get No. 2 Jade McCormick back after she missed much of last weekend with a hand injury, while Brandy Lambourne will continue her rivalry with Lewistown's Jeanna Mane at the No. 1 spot. The pair have played three tiebreakers this season with Lambourne holding a 2-1 edge. Tatiana Ralph will play the No. 3 singles spot this week, while either Madison Huebsch or Rainey Stoner will see action at No. 4.
In doubles, the Ponies and Eagles are even too. On the boys side, Lewistown has three quality teams, all which will battle with HHS No. 1's Nick Rhines and J.J. Hovet and No. 2's Noah Landgraf and Brian Smith. Jerod Boles and Wyatt Lindbloom play No. 3 for Havre. On the girls side, Havre's No. 1 team of Lainey Chagnon and Jennifer Cichosz will get another shot at Lewistown's top team of Jen Monger and Andrea Nielsen. The two teams have battled three times already this season. Breck Don and Ellery Bresler will also slide up and play a match at No. 1 weather and time permitting. Havre's No. 2 duo is 3-0 against the Lewistown No. 2. Morgan Jappe will be missed this weekend, so at No. 3, Haley Graham will team with Shannon Herring.
"The plan is, to essentially play two varsity duals against each other," Ferguson said. "So our No. 2's will move up to the No. 1 spot and vise versa the second time around. That will give both us, and Lewistown a chance for all of our kids to raise the level of competition. Hopefully, the weather holds and we get to do that, because it will be advantageous for both teams.
"I'm really looking forward to these matches," he added. "We are entering a busy two weeks in our schedule, and this is the perfect way to start it. If all of our kids, including our JV's get two full matches on Saturday, it will be a great thing, and something we haven't had on this weekend for a long time. Our kids need the competition. We need to keep pushing forward and improving our game, and we have a chance to do that Saturday. So I'm excited about that."
The Ponies are set to play the Eagles starting at 10:30 a.m. and going all the way to dark Saturday in Lewistown. Havre gets right back on the road for three duals in Great Falls on Tuesday.
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