HHS netters face Central A rivals

Rain, rain go away. That’s what the Havre Blue Ponies are hoping for when it comes to Saturday.

The HHS tennis teams are scheduled to travel to Lewistown Saturday for an all-important day of duals against Central A rivals Livingston, Anaconda and Lewistown. Rain is in the forecast however, and head coach George Ferguson said it would be tough on his team if the event doesn’t get played, for a number of a reasons.

“These are very important matches,” Ferguson said. “First, because it’s the only opportunity we have to play Livingston and Anaconda head-to-head, and those matches matter for divisional seeding purposes. Not to mention, we would like to at least see them and know what type of teams they have before the divisional tournament.

“But it’s also big because we have built up some really good momentum right now,” he continued. “We played so well in Cut Bank, and even better on Monday at our tournament. So we don’t want that momentum to stall by losing matches.”

Normally, Havre would be seeing the three Central A rivals at the season-ending Lewistown Invitational. But a scheduling conflict this season with the prestigious Helena Invitational will keep Havre and Livingston out of the Lewistown Invite May 10. So again, Saturday’s matches are critical to the Ponies’ progress.

And like Ferguson said, his boys and girls teams are playing well right now, and he’d like to see that continue. At Monday’s Havre Invite, the Ponies got championships from Jeff Miller in singles and Ned Malone and Brian Smith in doubles. On the girls side, Breck Don and Ellery Bresler placed second in doubles, while Brandy Lambourne was third in singles.

Miller, who is a perfect 13-0 this spring, will anchor the boys singles this weekend. Senior Zach Hellegaard, who finished third in Havre is at the No. 2 spot, while Jerod Boles, who placed fourth Monday is No. 3 and Jamie Lieberg is No. 4. Malone and Smith are No. 1 in doubles, followed by Wyatt Lindbloom and Noah Landgraf and freshmen Jake Sedahl and Nate Korb.

Lambourne is at the No. 1 spot for the HHS girls, while Tatiana Ralph, Shannon Herring and Ashley Hoffland round out the singles lineup. Bresler and Don, who have only lost twice this season, are No. 1 in doubles, followed by the senior tandem of Morgan Jappe and Haley Graham and the sophomore duo of Rainey Stoner and Madison Huebsch. Sophomores Megan Smith and Alara Vogel will also see action this weekend.

“I like where we’re at right now,” Ferguson said. “But we also aren’t where we want to be, and that’s why this weekend is so critical. Everybody will get three competitive matches against divisional opponents, and when we get back, those matches will tell us exactly how far we have to go to get to where we want to be. Divisionals is three weeks away, and while we’re playing well right now, we want to get even better. We haven’t peaked yet, and this weekend is part of the process of getting better.”

Havre is slated to play Livingston at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by afternoon duals against Anaconda and Lewistown. The Ponies will get right back on the road Tuesday when they travel to Great Falls for duals against Butte Central, Lewistown, CMR and Great Falls High.