Pony netters shine in Great Falls

After three days in Great Falls, the Havre High tennis teams should be very comfortbale in the Electric City. But more importantly, the Blue Ponies are getting closer to peaking.

Havre was in Great Falls for the 2015 Great Falls Invitational, where the Blue Ponies took on Butte High Friday and Skyview and Cut Bank Saturday. Havre’s scheduled dual with Billings Senior was rained out Friday afternoon.

“We were able to get three of our four duals in, and that’s more than most years at this tournament,” HHS head coach George Ferguson said. “It was disappointing to not be able to play Senior because they are a great program. But the three matches we did get this weekend, the kids played very well. In some areas, we saw some of our best tennis of the season, and that shows we’re on the right track. So I was pleased with how all of the kids did.”

The Havre boys won two duals Saturday, beating Skyview 6-1 and Cut Bank 8-0. The Ponies also tied Butte High 4-4 Friday morning.

Individually, Havre junior Jeff Miller captured two crucial singles wins, including a hard-fought win over Skyview standout Ryan Benge. The top doubles tandem of Jerod Boles and Noah Landgraf also remained undefeated over the weekend, as did the duo of Wyatt Lindbloom and Nate Korb. Dustin Haas was also perfect at the No. 4 singles spot for the Ponies, while Jake Sedahl won a key, three-set match against Skyview. Against Cut Bank, the Ponies mixed up their lineup some, but the results were the same as Havre didn’t lose a single match.

“The boys are really coming on strong,” Ferguson said. “Jeff (Miller) played some quality kids this weekend, and he played really well. He’s definitely starting to get into a groove now. And I was really excited about how Wyatt (Lindbloom) and Nate (Korb) played at No. 2 doubles. They are really starting to come into their own, and when you win as many close matches as they did this week, that’s a really good sign.

“But all of our boys played well for most of the weekend,” he continued. “And if they continue to do what they’ve been doing in practice, the results are going to keep getting better and better.”

No matter the scores, the Havre girls made progress, too. HHS lost to Butte High 8-0 Friday, but came back to beat Skyview 7-1 Saturday morning. The ponies ended the tourney with a 7-1 loss to Cut Bank, but in that loss, senior Tatiana Ralph stormed back to win a thrilling, three-set victory over Dakota Dosch. Ralph captured a pair of wins Saturday, while against Skyview, Paige Nelson, Meggan Smith, and the doubles team of Reggie Bernard and Ashley Hoffland also scored key wins.

“Tatiana played some great tennis,” Ferguson said. “She is really starting to become a force in Class A. As for our team, it was an interesting weekend, because I thought some of our best tennis was played in the duals we didn’t win. Butte has a strong team but the kids played great, and Cut Bank is just really good. And we knew that going in. But all of our matches against them (Wolves) were matches where I thought we played really good tennis. So that’s progress, and with an inexperienced team like we have, progress is the most important thing right now. So the girls did a really good job.”

With six matches over three days in Great Falls behind them, the Ponies will now turn their attention to the second week of Class AA competition. Friday and Saturday, Havre will be in Helena for the prestigious Helena Invitational.

“Helena is the toughest tournament in Montana,” Ferguson said. “And it’s a great way for us to test ourselves with divisionals being so close now. Time is really starting to tick away on this season, and now is the time when we need to start having our very best practices and playing our very best tennis, and there’s no better tournament to test that than in Helena.”ry best tennis, and there's no better tournament to test that than in Helena."

Great Falls Invite

BOYS

Havre 4, Butte High 4

Singles

Jeff Miller def. Levin Mullaney, BUT, 6-1, 6-0; Tyler Reilley, BUT def. Jake Sedahl, 6-4, 6-3; Erick Casagranda, BUT def. Jamie Lieberg, 6-2, 6-4; Dustin Haas def. Braden Loyola, BUT, 8-5.

Doubles

Jerod Boles/Noah Landgraf def. Brett Bentley/Blake Casagranda, BUT, 6-1, 5-7, 10-2; Nate Korb/Wyatt Lindbloom def. Marcus Madrazo/Nate Schermann, BUT, 6-3, 3-6, 10-6; Tyler Osello/Seth Jacka, BUT def. Trey Hanson/Jeffrey Ralph, 6-4, 6-2; Jory Nordstrom/Mike Hogan, BUT def. Trey Murphy/Kennedy McKay, 8-7 (7-2).

Havre 6, Skyview 1

Singles

Jeff Miller def. Ryan Benge, SKV, 6-3, 3-6. 10-7; Jake Sedahl def. Jacob Saunders, SKV, 2-6, 6-3, 10-8; Erik Gunnells, SKV def. Jamie Lieberg, 6-1, 6-1; Dustin Haas def. Ryan Larson, SKV, 8-3.

Doubles

Jerod Boles/Noah Landgraf def. DC Chelgren/Hammad Khan, SKV, 6-2, 6-3; Nate Korb/Wyatt Lindbloom def. Sam Streeter/Cade Barthuly, SKV, 5-7, 6-1, 10-8; Trey Hanson/Jeffrey Ralph trailed Zharon Richmond/Gavin Fox, SKV, 4-6, 3-2; Trey Murphy/Kennedy McKay def. JJ Ellis/Trevor Dillon, SKV, 8-4.

Havre 8, Cut Bank 0

Singles

Jerod Boles def. Josh Biegler, CB, 6-2, 6-3; Wyatt Lindbloom def. Jesse Burtness, CB, 6-1, 6-4; Jeffrey Ralph def. Jordan Castle, CB, 6-3, 6-4; Trey Hanson won by FFT, def. Burtness, CB, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 11-9 in exhibition.

Doubles

Jeff Miller/Jake Sedahl def. Spencer Czech/Jess Ray, CB, 6-0, 6-1; Nate Korb/Noah Landgraf def. Brandon Ostby/Dawson Matt, CB, 6-2, 6-2; Dustin Haas/Jamie Lieberg won by FFT, lost to Czech/Ray, 6-4, 6-4 in exhibition; Kennedy McKay/Trey Murphy won by FFT, def. Ostby/Matt, CB, 6-2, 6-4.

GIRLS

Butte High 8, Havre 0

Singles

Hannah Atmann, BUT def. Tatiana Ralph, 7-5, 7-5; Madison Jones, BUT def. Paige Nelson, 6-0, 6-2; Caitlyn Sheehan, BUT def. Meggan Smith, 6-1, 6-4; Jaycee Sprunger, BUT def. Marca Herron, 8-1.

Doubles

McKaul Ori/Sierra McGunis, BUT def. Rainey Stoner/Madison Huebsch, 6-1, 6-3; Molly Springer/Lakyn Ludwick, BUT def. Reggie Bernard/Ashley Hoffland, 6-1, 6-2; Sidney Jennings/Carlee Johnson, BUT def. Alex Donaldson/Megan Lindbloom, 6-0, 6-0; Jessica Rosa/Mia Robbins, BUT def. Chido Chikwava/Kaylee Nash, 8-2.

Havre 7, Skyview 1

Singles

Marca Herron won by FFT; lost to Brianna Dutton, SKV, 8-0 in exhibition; Tatiana Ralph def. Courtney VanDyke, SKV, 6-4, 6-3; Paige Nelson def. Aundrea Morales, SKV, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); Meggan Smith def. Mackenzie Zoller, SKV, 8-3.

Doubles

Brianna Dutton/Isbah Khan, SKV def. Rainey Stoner/Madison Huebsch, 6-2, 6-3; Reggie Bernard/Ashley Hoffland def. Olivia Naughton/Morgan Sanchez, SKV, 6-2, 6-2; Alex Donaldson/Megan Lindbloom won by FFT, def. Naughton/Sanchez, SKV, 6-2, 3-2; Chido Chikwava/Kaylee Nash won by FFT.

Cut Bank 7, Havre 1

Singles

Tatiana Ralph def. Dakota Dosch, CB, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8); 13-11; Allie Anderson, CB def. Paige Nelson, 6-1, 6-2; Paige Johnson, CB def. Meggan Smith, 6-1, 6-2; Katrina Sandoval, CB def. Kaylee Nash, 8-1.

Doubles

Duana Gobert/Alex Kraft, CB def. Madison Huebsch/Rainey Stoner, 6-2, 6-2; Donelle Novak/Megan Barrett, CB def. Reggie Bernard/Ashley Hoffland, 6-4, 6-0; Anyssa Rousch/Riley Bird, CB def. Alex Donaldson/Megan Lindbloom, 6-2, 6-4; Macy Curtiss/Agathe Manach, CB def. Chido Chikwava/Marca Herron, 8-6.