Ace: Blue Ponies shine at home

Heading into the 2016 Havre Invitational tennis tournament, Blue Pony head coach George Ferguson wanted to make sure his boys and girls teams made it a special day. The mantra going in was for the Ponies to take full advantage of their only home meet of the season.

And after a breezy but warm day of tennis, and 124 matches played between the Bill Vaughey Memorial Tennis Courts and the MSU-Northern Courts on Saturday — it was mission accomplished.

The Ponies crowned three champions and placed a handful of others during Saturday’s Havre Invite, leaving Ferguson more than pleased with how things went.

“First, I just want to say how proud I am of our seniors,” Ferguson said. “We preached all week about making our tournament a special day, and I felt like our seniors really took that to heart. They were focused and determined and, every time they went out on the court, they really played great. This is a great group of seniors and they really set a great example for the rest of our team about what the Havre Invite is all about.

“Overall, I thought all of our kids played really well, too,” he continued. “The big goal on the court was to be better than we were last week in Conrad, and I felt like that progress really showed in how we played. It was a very competitive tournament, and I thought our kids took their game up a level. So I’m really happy with how it all went.”

The tournament, which featured visiting Belgrade, Lewistown, Conrad and Cut Bank, was indeed competitive, yet, the Ponies still stole the show.

On the boys side, Havre senior Jeff Miller captured his third straight Havre Invite singles title with a dominating 6-1, 6-0 win over Lewistown’s Danyon Rice in the championship match. In doubles, senior Jerod Boles teamed with Jake Sedahl to beat Belgrade’s top duo in the doubles title match. It was Boles’ second straight Havre Invite doubles title, and the performance showed just how strong Havre’s boys are yet again this season, as Nate Korb and Trey Hanson also notched a fourth-place finish in doubles, while Dustin Haas and the tandem of Kennedy McKay and Trey Murphy won multiple times.

"It's always a blast to play at home,” Miller said. “Since we only get to do it once a year, it's that much more special. It was great to go out on top because it's the last home meet I'll ever have. My emotions got to me at the end of the day because I realized that's the last time I'll play at home. Overall it was a great and we had a great amount of success as a team.”

“Our boys were pretty sharp,” Ferguson said. “Jeff really showed what he was made of as this was the first time he really faced any difficult competition this season, and he really dominated that championship match. And Jerod and Jake looked really tough, and it was only their first weekend together, so as the season goes on, they’re going to just get better and better. Overall, our boys did a really good job. They showed all the improvements we were looking to see, so I was really proud of the way they played.”

Havre’s girls shined too.

The Ponies got a doubles title from the senior duo of Reggie Bernard and Alara Vogel, as they beat the top team from Conrad in a three-set thriller in the championship match. Fellow seniors Rainey Stoner and Madison Huebsch also bounced back after losing a tiebreaker to Conrad in the semifinals to finish third, while Paige Nelson and Meggan Smith placed third and fourth, respectively in the top singles bracket. Both Nelson and Smith notched wins over Belgrade and Conrad’s top players on their way to the consolation final. Havre also got a fifth-place finish from sophomores Megan Lindbloom and Alex Donaldson in doubles, while many Pony other players also stood out Saturday.

“It felt really great to win it,” Bernard said. “It was really special to do it at home, too. It’s also going to give us a lot of confidence. The team that we beat was one that had beat us a couple of times before, so that’s going to give us a lot of confidence going forward for the rest of the season.”

“I really thought our girls turned a big corner Saturday,” Ferguson said. “And you look no further than what Reggie and Alara did. They lost to that Conrad team two weeks in a row, then came home and beat them in a great match. That speaks to how much they, and our entire girls team is improving. That’s what we wanted to see, and all of our girls showed so much improvement in our tournament. It was awesome to see, and I’m really proud of the way all our girls played, in the wins, and the losses. It was a really good tournament for them.”

And making their only home meet of the season a good one was something Ferguson was more than excited about. Havre won a lot of matches, and more important to Ferguson, the Ponies played well doing it. And with a long, and tough road schedule ahead of his teams, Ferguson was very happy with the way the latest Havre Invite unfolded.

“It was a great tournament,” Ferguson said. “It was very competitive, and our kids really rose to the occasion. It was a lot of fun, and I’m really proud of the way every one of our players not only played tennis, but represented our school and our program. They were first-class all day, like they always are, and it was once again, a special day for Blue Pony tennis.”

Now the Ponies will turn their attention to this weekend’s Class A Duals in Cut Bank, a two-day tournament where the Ponies will battle Hardin, Whitefish, Polson and Libby.

2016 Havre Invitational

No Team Scores: Havre, Lewistown, Belgrade, Cut Bank, Conrad.

BOYS

Singles 1-2

1st rd – Blaine Giachino, CON def. Brady Ophus, HAV, 6-3; Jeffrey Fourneir, BEL def. Dustin Haas, HAV, 6-5 (8-6); 2nd rd – Jeff Miller, HAV def. Giachino, CON, 6-0; Yan Mann, BEL def. Kody Neil, LEW, 6-5 (7-3); Fourneir, BEL def. Brandon Ostby, CB, 6-5 (8-6); Danyon Riced, LEW won by fft; Semifinals – Miller, HAV def. Mann, BEL, 6-5 (7-3); Rice, LEW def. Fournier, BEL, 6-2; Championship – Miller, HAV def. Rice, LEW, 6-1, 6-0.

Consolation 1st rd – Haas, HAV def. Neil, LEW, 6-1; Ophus, HAV won by fft; Consolation 2nd rd – Ostby, CB def. Ophus, HAV, 6-4; Haas, HAV def. Gianchino, CON, 6-1; Consolation Semis – Fourneir, BEL def. Ostby, CB, 6-2; Mann, BEL def. Haas, HAV, 6-3; Consolation Final – DNP.

Doubles

1st rd – Boles/Sedahl, HAV def. Nino/Patterson, BEL, 6-0; Bell/Monlux, BEL def. Holden/Swensen, HAV, 6-0; Korb/Hanson, HAV def. Kraft/Matt, CB, 6-3; McKay/Murphy, HAV def. Judisch/Huber, CON, 6-3; Layman/Hamilton, BEL def. Phillips/McQuinn, LEW, 6-2; 2nd rd – Boles/Sedahl, HAV def. Bell/Monlux, BEL, 6-0; Padilla/Whittier, CON def. Church/Miller, LEW, 6-1; Farrar/Mannin, LEW def. Korb/Hanson, HAV. 6-3; Layman/Hamilton, BEL def. McKay/Murphy, HAV, 6-3; Semifinals – Boles/Sedahl, HAV def. Padilla/Wittmier, CON, 6-5 (7-2); Layman/Hamilton, BEL, def. Farrar/Mannin, BEL, 6-5 (7-5; Championship – Boles/Sedahl, HAV def. Layman/Hamilton, BEL, 6-1, 3-6, 10-1.

Consolation 1st rd – Nino/Patterson, BEL def. Holden/Swensen, HAV, 6-1; Judisch/Huber, CON def. Phillips/McQuinn, LEW, 6-4; Consolation 2nd rd – McKay/Murphy, HAV def. Nino/Patterson, BEL, 6-1; Church/Miller, LEW def. Kraft/Matt, CB, 6-4; Judisch/Huber, CON def. Bell/Monlux, BEL, 6-3; Consolation 3rd rd – Korb/Hanson, HAV def. McKay/Murphy, HAV, 6-5 (7-3); Church/Miller, LEW def. Judisch/Huber, CON, 6-0; Consolation Semis – Korb/Hanson, HAV def. Farrar/Mannin, LEW, 6-3; Padilla/Wittmier, CON def. Church/Miller, LEW, 6-1; Consolation Final – Padilla/Wittmier, CON def. Korb/Hanson, HAV, 8-5.

Singles 3-4

1st rd – Jordan Castle, CB def. Josiah Harrison, HAV, 6-3; Dean Kellog, CON def. Jack Johnsrud, HAV, 6-1; Gus Meilwald, CB def. Isaiah Kolar, LEW, 6-1; O’Leary, BEL def. Ben Kolar, LEW, 6-0; 2nd rd – Tommy Brown, HAV def. Jette Pruthis, CON, 6-3; Castle, CB def. O’Leary, BEL, 7-5; Kellog, CON won by fft; Connor McCauley, BEL def. Meiwald, CB, 6-0; Championship – Castle, CB def. McCauley, BEL, 8-6.

Consolation 1st rd – B. Kolar, LEW def. Harrison, HAV, 6-5 (7-5); Consolation 2nd rd – O’Leary, BEL def. Jophsnrud, HAV, 6-0; Pruttis, CON def. I. Kolar, LEW, 6-4; Consolation 3rd rd – B. Kolar, LEW def. Miewald, CB, 6-1; O’Leary, BEL def. Pruttis, CON, 6-4; Consolation Semis – B. Kolar, LEW def. Kellog, CON, 6-0; O’Leary, BEL def. Brown, HAV, 6-1; Consolation Final – O’Leary, BEL def. B. Kolar, LEW.

GIRLS

Singles 1-2

1st rd – Dakota Dosch, CB def. Ashley Hoffland, HAV, 6-1; Meggan Smith, HAV def. Haley Reis, CON, 6-3; Paige Johnson, CB def. Marca Herron, HAV, 6-1; Paige Nelson, HAV def. Kiah Hohenstein, BEL, 6-2; Semifinals – Dosch, CB def. Smith, HAV, 6-0; Johnson, CB def. Nelson, HAV, 6-2; Championship – Dosch, CB def. Johnson, CB, 6-1, 6-1.

Consolation 1st rd – Reis, CON def. Hoffland, HAV, 6-3; Hohenstein, BEL def. Herron, HAV, 6-2; Consolation Semis – Nelson, HAV def. Reis, CON, 6-3; Smith, HAV def. Hohenstein, BEL, 6-3; Consolation Final – Nelson, HAV def. Smith, HAV, 8-6.

Doubles

1st rd – Weirda/Grooms, BEL def. Lindbloom/Donaldson, HAV, 6-5 (8-6); Adams/Davis, BEL def. Murphy/Fee, HAV, 6-2; Sanders/Sendon, BEL def. Donaldson/Solomon, HAV, 6-4; 2nd rd – Vogel/Bernard, HAV def. Weirda/Grooms, BEL, 6-0; Adams/Davis, BEL def. Gobert/Riley, CB, 6-2; VanDyke/Jones, CON def. Sanders/Sendon, BEL, 6-1; Stoner/Huebsch, HAV def. Southworth/Fry, LEW, 6-1; Semifinals – Vogel/Bernard, HAV def. Adams/Davis, BEL, 6-2; VanDyke/Jones, CON def. Stoner/Huebsch, HAV, 6-5 (7-3); Championship – Vogel/Bernard, HAV def. VanDyke/Jones, CON, 4-6, 6-4, 11-9.

Consolation 1st rd – Lindbloom/Donaldson, HAV def. Southworth/Fry, LEW, 6-3; Weirda/Grooms, BEL def. Murphy/Fee, HAV, 6-1; Riley/Curtiss, CB def. Donaldson/Solomon, HAV, 6-3; Consolation 2nd rd – Lindbloom/Donaldson, HAV def. Weirda/Grooms, BEL, 6-2; Riley/Curtiss, CB def. Sanders/Sendon, BEL, 6-5 (7-6); Consolation Semis – Stoner/Huebsch, HAV def. Lindbloom/Donaldson, HAV, 6-2; Riley/Curtiss, CB def. Adams/Davis, BEL, 6-4; Consolation Final – Stoner/Huebsch, HAV def. Riley/Curtiss, CB, 8-2.

Girls Singles 3-4

1st rd – Naomi Yeager, CON def. Mckenzie Tommerup, HAV, 6-4; Carley Reis, CON def. Caprice Gobin, HAV, 6-1; Megan Barrett, CB def. Ally Padgett, HAV, 6-1; Brooke Gilbertson, BEL def. Carly Behor, CON, 6-3; Eliza McLaughlin, BEL def. Holly Strobel, HAV, 6-3; 2nd rd – McLaughlin, BEL def. Yeager, CON, 6-3; Barrett, CB def. Reis, CON, 6-3; Gilbertson, BEL def. Tessa Gatz, LEW, 6-1; Semifinals – McLaughlin, BEL def. Mallory Schaub, HAV, 6-1; Barrett, CB def. Gilbertson, BEL, 6-2; Championship – Barrett, CB def. McLaughlin, BEL, 8-2.

Consolation 1st rd – Strobel, HAV def. Tommerup, HAV, 6-4; Gobin, HAV def. Padgett, HAV, 6-1; Consolation 2nd rd – Reis, CON def. Strobel, HAV, 6-0; Gobin, HAV def. Yeager, CON, 6-3; Consolation 3rd rd – Reis, CON def. Gatz, LEW, 6-0; Behr, CON def. Gobin, HAV, 6-4; Consolation Semis – Reis, CON def. Gilbertson, BEL, 6-2; Behr, CON, def. Schaub, HAV, 6-1; Consolation Final – Reis, CON def. Behr, CON, 6-3.