Young Ponies grow at Central A girls tennis tourney

Growing pains in sports are never easy to take. Especially when you're used to being a Central A powerhouse like the Havre High girls tennis team is.

But, the Blue Ponies had to go through some growing pains at this weekend's Central A tourney in Bozeman, as they finished third with 30 points, and saw only senior singles player Tatiana Ralph reach this week's Class A state tournament after she finished second in singles.

Still, Havre head coach George Ferguson was excited about how his girls team performed in Bozeman, and said that his 10 players should be proud of what they accomplished.

"After losing what we lost from last year on the girls side, there was no way to know how this season would turn out," Ferguson said. "We took four girls who had never played tennis before March and two more girls who weren't on varsity a year ago to this tournament, and all I can say is, they all played amazing tennis. Our girls were a shining example of how we do things in our program. They worked hard every day to get better, they believed in the process, and they did exactly what our goal was all along – and that's to play their very best at the divisional tournament.

"I know the results weren't what a lot of them were hoping for," Ferguson continued. "But they should be so proud of how they played. I'm very proud of all of them."

Ralph led the way for the Ponies, who were a distant third to a dominant Livingston team that scored a tournament-record 80 points. She made the state tourney for the second straight year, losing only in the championship match to Livingston's Emilee Coleman. In the semifinals, Ralph pulled off a third-set thriller over Livingston's Shelly Ouellette to punch her ticket to state.

"Tati really battled," Ferguson said. "She was given kind of a bad draw because the No. 2 player from Livingston was seeded ahead of her which is unusual. But she really battled in that semifinal against that girl and proved who the real No. 2 seed in the tournament was. I'm proud of her. She had to play three Livingston players in four matches, and she did a great job, and she's going to go on and do great at state."

The rest of HHS's singles lineup had exactly zero match experience in the postseason coming into the weekend, but together, they played extremely well. Freshman Paige Nelson and junior Meggan Smith combined to win four times, while junior Ashley Hoffland lost twice, but suffered an ankle injury in her second match that prevented her from being effective.

"Those three girls played great tennis," Ferguson said. "They really did. With how strong Livingston was this year, the single's bracket was really tough, but those girls all played great. Paige Nelson is going to be a force for years to come, and I was super impressed with the way Megan and Ashley both played. Even in losses, both of them played the best tennis of their lives to this point."

Meanwhile, in doubles, Havre came agonizingly close to sending the teams of Rainey Stoner and Madison Huebsch and Alara Vogel and Reggie Bernard to the state tourney. Both teams lost heartbreaking consolation semifinals, both falling in the decisive third set, while the freshmen duo of Alex Donaldson and Megan Lindbloom knocked off the No. 1 team from Anaconda to score a big point for the Ponies.

"My heart goes out to those four girls (Stoner, Huebsch, Bernard, Vogel)," Ferguson said. "I know they were all crushed because they came so close. They both had close losses that would have got them into the semifinals and they both lost again in really close matches that would have got them into the state tournament. So I know how much that hurts and you just hate to see your kids have to go through that.

"But there is a big bright side to that," Ferguson added. "They are all juniors, and twice, Rainey and Madison were within a few points of beating two Livingston teams who are going to state. Those two doubles teams came to divisionals and played exactly how they thought they were capable of playing. They took a gigantic step forward and went from struggling at the beginning of the year, to really becoming two very good doubles teams and four really good tennis players. And while I feel terrible for all four of them, the fact is, they all know how good they can be next season, along with the fact that we have two really good freshman coming back. They know they played great tennis, and I'm so proud of them for how great they played and how tough they were this weekend, and I can't wait to see how strong those girls are going to be next year. Really, our team is going to be really good next year. Hats off to Livingston. They were great this weekend. But I'm so proud of all of our girls, and with nine of them coming back, plus all the newcomers we had this season, next year is going to be a big one for our girls program."

Central A girls

At Bozeman

Team Scores

Livingston 80, Lewistown 31, Havre 30; Belgrade 5, Anaconda 2

Singles

Championship – Emilee Coleman, LIV def. Tatiana Ralph, HAV, 6-3, 6-1; Consolation – Shelly Ouellette, LIV def. Olivia Hinz, LIV, 6-2, 6-0.

Doubles

Championship – Kelly/Woods, LIV def. Lane/Printz, LIV, 7-5, 6-3; Consolation – Backer/Olson, LEW def. Totland/Badten, LIV, 6-2, 7-5.

Havre Results

Tatiana Ralph (2nd Place)

1st rd – Bye; 2nd rd – def. Eliza Boyd, LIV, 6-3, 6-2; QF – def. Felicity Kulaski, ANA, 6-2, 6-2; SF – def. Shelly Ouellette, LIV, 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-4; Championship – lost to Coleman, LIV, 6-3, 6-1.

Paige Nelson

1st rd – Bye; 2nd rd – def. Nicole Anderson, BEL, 6-0, 6-0; QF – lost to Coleman, LIV, 6-2, 6-1; LO – lost to Boyd, LIV, 7-5, 6-3.

Meggan Smith

1st rd – Bye; 2nd rd – lost to Abby Gatz, LEW, 6-1, 6-2; LO – def. Tristen Nelson, ANA, 6-1, 6-0; LO – def. Laura Stout, BEL, 6-3, 6-1; LO – lost to Taylor Woods, LEW, 6-2, 5-7, 6-0.

Ashley Hoffland

1st rd – Bye; 2nd rd – lost to Ouellette, LIV, 6-0, 6-2; LO – lost to Lilly Reddick, BEL, 6-1, 6-0.

Alara Vogel/Reggie Bernard

1st rd – def. Elmore/Arndt, LEW, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4); QF – lost to Totland/Badten, LIV, 6-4, 6-2; LO – def. Johnson/Tocher, ANA, 6-0, 6-0; LO – def. Myhre/Godbey, LEW, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; Consolation SF – lost to Backer/Olson, LEW, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Madison Huebsch/Rainey Stoner

1st rd – def. Sander/McLuaghlin, BEL, 6-0, 6-1; QF – lost to Lane/Printz, LIV, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4; LO – def. Donaldson/Lindbloom, HAV, 6-2, 6-2; LO – def. Adams/Davis, BEL, 6-1, 6-1; Consolation SF – lost to Totland/Badten, LIV, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Megan Lindbloom/Alex Donaldson

1st rd – lost to Backer/Olson, LEW, 6-2, 6-0; LO – def. Rassmussen/Nelson, ANA, 7-6, &-1), 6-3; LO – lost to Stoner/Huebsch, HAV, 6-2, 6-2.