Home Court: Pony netters host Havre Invite

Havre High head tennis coach George Ferguson says his Blue Pony teams are entering a critical juncture in their season. But, the Ponies are also about to play one of his favorite meets of the entire season.

Saturday, Havre will host its only home meet of the year when the Ponies welcome in Lewistown, Conrad and Cut Bank to the 2015 Havre Invitational. The tournament will get underway at 8 a.m. and will be played at the Bill Vaughey Memorial Tennis Courts and the MSU-Northern tennis courts.

"Very excited to host our tournament," said Ferguson, who has run 12 Havre Invites to date. "It's our only true home meet of the year, so in that regard, it's special because people get to come out and see what our program is all about. It's also one of the few times where we're all together. The varsity, the junior varsity, the boys and the girls, we're all together and everybody plays. So it's a big day for us and a big day for our entire program."

Saturday will also be a big day because Ferguson said it's the start of the middle portion of Havre's season. Following Saturday's Havre Invite, the Ponies get busy on the road with upper-level competition tournaments in Cut Bank and Lewistown over the next two weeks. And after that, Havre starts to play all Class AA competition for the next part of its schedule.

"The Havre Invite really marks what should be a turning point for our players," Ferguson said. "We should start to see no more offseason rust, we should start to see them be in pretty good physical condition, and we should start to see them begin to elevate their games. Even the beginners, this is the week where we should really start to see them grasp some things that maybe they didn't a few weeks ago.

"And this tournament has us playing pretty much the same competition we've seen the last two weeks," he continued. "So it gives is a chance to really gauge those things we're looking for, and evaluate what exactly we need to work on with each player, and as a team going forward. So it is an important day for us for sure."

The Havre Invite is also the Ponies' first chance to play a bracket style tournament this season. The tourney will feature draws for 1-2 singles, 3-4 and JV singles, as well as doubles. In all, between the matches at the high school and at the college, Ferguson said about 90 matches will be played Saturday, weather permitting.

"Well, we sure hope the weather cooperates," Ferguson said. "With the match schedule, and the number of courts we have, we can't afford any delays. We've had good luck with the weather almost every year at this tournament, and I hope that continues on Saturday."

And as Ferguson mentioned earlier, the Havre Invite is a chance for every Blue Pony player to play, regardless of where they are on the varsity ladder. The Pony boys team will be represented by Jeff Miller, Jake Sedahl, Jamie Lieberg, Dustin Haas, Kendall Holden, Barrett Kilgore, Brady Ophus and Vander Swensen in singles, as well as the teams of Jerod Boles and Noah Landgraf, Wyatt Lindbloom and Nate Korb, Trey Hanson and Jeffrey Ralph, Trey Murphy and Kennedy McKay, and Kyle Kirkpatrick and Patrick Leeds in doubles.

On the girls side, Tatiana Ralph, Paige Nelson, Marca Herron, Meggie Zook, Chido Chickwava, Baylee Miller and Maecee Titeca will play singles, while the teams of Rainey Stoner and Madison Huebsch, Meggan Smith and Ashley Hoffland, Alara Vogel and Reggie Bernard, and Alex Donaldson and Megan Lindbloom will play doubles.

And while the Havre Invite marks the next step in Havre's season, Ferguson said the tournament is still about much more than winning and losing. It's about Pony Pride.

"Our objectives haven't changed," Ferguson said. "This tournament is about improving, about learning, about just continuing to become better tennis players, better singles players, better doubles teams. That's what matters right now.

"But it's also about showcasing our program," he added. "We have a lot of pride and tradition in our program, and that's been handed down from class to class, year to year. And the Havre Invite is a big part of that. So this Saturday is this team's opportunity to go out and show that pride we have in our program to our fans and parents and family members and everyone who comes out to watch us. This day is about promoting what Blue Pony tennis is all about, and I'm looking forward to it. It should be a great day."