Blue Pony netters head East

The Havre High tennis teams were supposed to play nine duals against top-flight competition this week. But after rain interrupted Tuesday's action in Great Falls, the Blue Ponies will have to settle for six matches.

And yet, Havre High head coach George Ferguson says those six matches will all be big ones, as the Ponies battle the Eastern A this weekend in Glendive. Havre attends the Elks Invitational Friday and Saturday, and will play Eastern A stalwarts Billings Central, Miles City, Glendive and Hardin. The HHS girls also get a dual against Class A power Baker.

"This is a great opportunity for our kids, for several reasons," Ferguson said. "First, testing ourselves against the Eastern A is always a good thing. There will be both really good individual match ups for us, and great team competitions. There are a lot of strong teams at this meet, and some really good players. Also, we get to play a lot. That's big for us right now. The divisional tournament is getting closer and closer, so being challenged against good competition is essential to our progress, and Glendive gives us a great opportunity for that."

Indeed, the Glendive meet includes the Billings Central boys, the three-time defending Class A state champions, as well as the Glendive and Hardin girls, who are both considered Class A state title contenders this season. The Hardin boys are also a strong team, while individuals like Glendive's Jory Opp and Cirarra Steigar, Hardin's Madison Chavez and the doubles team of Michael Neeser and Darnell Left Hand are all considered state-champion caliber players.

"It's going to be great to see that level of competition," Ferguson said. "We've seen Hardin once this year, but even they weren't at full strength at that point. So we're going to see some of the best of the best of Class A tennis this weekend, and it's exciting, and it will be a great challenge for our kids."

Havre will also be a challenge for the rest of the field in Glendive. The Pony boys are a stellar 11-1 in duals, led by senior Dustin Haas at No. 1 singles, and the duos of Nate Korb and Jake Sedahl and Trey Murphy and Kennedy McKay in doubles. The Ponies also have seniors Trey Hanson, Bobby Personett and Jase Stokes, as well as the duo of Brady Ophus and Tommy Brown to round out the doubles lineup.

"Our boys are playing solid tennis right now," Ferguson said. "I think guys like Trey Hanson and Tommy and Brady, they are really finding their stride and making us a much deeper team. Jase and Bobby will also play doubles together this weekend because of the format in Glendive, but where they're at as tennis players right now, it's just awesome, that whole group has given us so much more depth in duals. They're all doing a great job."

The Havre High girls are also building depth too. Senior Paige Nelson leads the singles brigade, with sophomores McKenzie Tommerup and Kadyn Acor, as well as freshman Cassidy Acor advancing rapidly. Havre's doubles teams of Marcee Murphy and Devyn Solomon, Katie and Alex Donaldson and Baylee Miller and Megan Lindbloom have also made a ton of progress this season.

"With the exception of Paige Nelson and Kadyn Acor, this is an entirely new girls team," Ferguson said. "Yes, Alex Donaldson and Megan Lindbloom were varsity the last two years too, but they are playing with different partners now, and overall our lineup has changed dramatically this season, and, it's taken some time for our girls to adjust and for our girls playing their first year of varsity to adjust to that level as well. But they have all done a great job, they are working hard, and they will break through. I know they will because they are all very good tennis players. It just takes time. It will come though because this girls team just has so much potential."

And there is no better way for Havre to test its potential than to dual so many good teams in Glendive, where the Ponies will play three duals Friday and three more Saturday.

"This stretch, Glendive and then next week's Helena Invite, we're going to make a big jump forward, simply because, when you raise the level of competition, you're going to get better. So this next two weeks is huge for our kids and it's very exciting."