HHS tennis teams happy to play the Great Falls Invite

It's back to Great Falls for the Havre High tennis teams. And the Blue Ponies couldn't be happier.

Havre High will be attending the Great Falls Invitational today and Saturday, and with the forecast, at least warm and dry, the tournament will be a welcome surprise for the Ponies. Because of weather, and one year, not enough court space, HHS hasn't competed in the Great Falls Invite since the 2008 season.

Havre High senior Jade McCormick strikes a backhand during a Havre Invitational tennis match earlier this month. The Blue Pony teams are headed to the Great Falls Invitational today and Saturday.

"The last few years, winter storms have killed this tournament," HHS head coach George Ferguson said. "This is one of the biggest events on our schedule and it's been cancelled over and over again. Our seniors have even never played in this event. So it's exciting that it looks like it's going to get played this season. It's really good competition for us."

The Ponies just played three duals in Great Falls on Tuesday, and they'll face three Class AA teams over the weekend. Havre will dual Butte High this morning, then Billings Senior this afternoon. The Ponies will return to Great Falls to take on Billings Skyview Saturday morning, and they'll complete the weekend with a dual against rival Cut Bank.

"Four more matches where everybody is playing against someone of pretty equal skill level will be really beneficial for us," Ferguson said. "This will be a great opportunity for our kids to gain experience and get a lot of court time because we'll be playing full sets again. This tournament is also nice because in the AA's, varsity is 12 with a fourth doubles team, so for us, four more kids get to play that wouldn't in Class A varsity duals."

For the boys, Havre's top dual will be against Senior this afternoon. Butte High is somewhat down, as is Skyview. Havre has played good duals against Cut Bank, so Saturday's dual will be another good test.

Top singles player Jeff Miller comes into today on a nine-match winning streak, but he'll be tested at the No. 1 spot. Junior Ned Malone should be very tough for Havre at the No. 2 position, while Zach Hellegaard is unbeaten at No. 3, but will only play one match this weekend due to music commitments. Jacob Holden rounds out the Pony singles lineup, while Havre will have Nick Rhines and J.J. Hovet at No. 1 doubles, Brian Smith and Noah Landgraf at No. 2, Wyatt Lindbloom and Jerod Boles at No. 3 and Jamie Lieberg and Patrick Leeds at No. 4.

"Our boys will get some good matches this weekend," Ferguson said. "And they're coming along. Our singles depth is really looking good, but we need to continue to gain experience in doubles, so this next four duals, and next week in Helena will be really good for our doubles teams."

On the girls side, Senior and Cut Bank will challenge the Ponies the most, though Butte and Skyview are strong too. In singles, Brandy Lambourne is really coming on strong while veteran Jade McCormick plays No. 2. Shannon Herring returns to the Havre lineup today after missing Tuesday, while Tatiana Ralph is a strong No. 4. In doubles, Lainey Chagnon and Jennifer Cichosz play No. 1, Breck Don and Ellery Bresler are No. 2 and the undefeated team of Haley Graham and Morgan Jappe are No. 3. Freshmen Rainey Stoner and Madison Huebsch will play No. 4 this weekend.

"I like the way our girls team is progressing," Ferguson said. "And this will be a good challenge for them this weekend. I think all of our doubles teams are right where we want them to be right now, and our singles players are getting more and more experienced. So we're in a good place heading into this tournament."

And as excited as Ferguson and the Ponies are to just be making the trip to Great Falls, they aren't complacent either. Ferguson continues to preach the same theme he has every week this season.

"Improving, moving forward, that's our goal," Ferguson said. "And we can achieve that in Great Falls. This weekend will be a great way to get better as we move closer to divisionals. Yes, we want our kids to succeed and win, but if they keep improving, and keep taking the next step, that will happen anyway. So just continuing to play better is our goal again this weekend."

Havre faced the Butte Bulldogs and will take on the Senior Broncs today at 4:30 p.m. The Ponies face the Skyview Falcons at 10 a.m. Saturday and finish the Great Falls Invite with the Cut Bank Wolves at 2 p.m.