HHS tennis teams hope to get on the court

For the third year in a row, weather may play a big role in Havre's High two-day trip to the Great Falls Invitational tennis tournament. On this week last year, the Great Falls tournament, which is two days worth of challenging duals, was called off due to a huge snowstorm which hit the area. Fast forward one year, and snow is again predicted to hit Great Falls, leaving HHS's status for this weekend up in the air. The Blue Ponies are slated to dual Bozeman and Billings Senior on Friday and Billings West and Cut Bank on Saturday. "It would be disappointing if this tournament doesn't happen," HHS head coach George Ferguson said. "We haven't been able to play there in two years, and this is a tournament which is really good for us because we get to dual some really good teams. And at this point in the season, not only is playing those good teams really beneficial, but missing matches of any kind really hurts our preparation for the postseason." Interestingly, the Ponies haven't had so much as a weather delay so far this year. Something that hasn't happened in quite some time. HHS had great weather for several quality duals Tuesday in Great Falls, but according to Ferguson, his team wasn't at its best despite the warm temperatures and little wind. "Maybe it wasn't windy enough on Tuesday," Ferguson joked. "But honestly, I felt like we just didn't play well as a group on Tuesday. We had some kids who did on an individual level. There were some bright spots. But from top to bottom, Tuesday was not our best day this season. I really believe we are a better team than what the scores showed in those duals, and we're hoping we get a chance to prove that this weekend." Havre has also been battling the injury bug on the girls side. Senior Morgan McCann is still out with an arm injury, while junior Danielle Faechner suffered an ankle injury at the Helena Invitational last week. Then, on Tuesday, senior Hayley Donovan suffered a similar ankle injury. So once again, the Ponies will shuffle their lineup in Great Falls this weekend. If Donovan can play, only McCann will be out this weekend. But several Havre players will move back and forth from doubles to singles. "We've been rotating doubles and singles players for weeks now," Ferguson said. "It's actually went pretty well. It's actually good for kids to experience both because you really do learn how to play from all areas of the court and those are things you can't simulate in practice. So I'm proud of the girls for stepping up and accepting those challenges. And no matter what our lineup looks like for divisionals, I think our girls team will be better off for what we've been doing the last few weeks." On the boys side, HHS's lineup has been pretty consistent. Singles players Kyle Miller and Justin Jensen have been playing at a high level for most of the season. Sophomore Simon McCann has also been steadily playing better and better in his first full varsity season. In doubles, Havre has had two brand new teams in the top two this year in Danny Roe and Brayden Grimson and Keenan Dolezal and Zach Cichosz, and the learning curve has been pretty steep as of late. "Justin (Jensen) and Simon (Mc- Cann) have really been playing well," Ferguson said. "Both of them have taken really big steps this season. And they both still have really big upsides because they are only sophomores. "As for our doubles teams, they are both talented teams with a lot of potential," he added. "They are still learning how to play the game of doubles, and with the schedule we've had this last couple of weeks, that's not easy because they are playing some really good teams. So they are taking some lumps right now. But the end result is what matters. It matters what they do at the end of May. Still, that's another reason we're hoping the weather lets us get this tournament in. The kids that have built some momentum need to keep it going, and the kids that are still learning need as many matches as possible." If the weather does cooperate, HHS will take on Bozeman on Friday at 10 a.m. and Billings Senior at 4:30 p.m. Havre will return to Great Falls on Saturday to face Billings West at 9:30 a.m. and Cut Bank at 2 p.m.