Flathead Invite draws 6 AA teams

The Daily Inter Lake

The final tuneup for Flathead tennis before divisionals is a dandy as the three Class AA schools from Missoula, Great Falls High and CMR visit the Valley for the Flathead Invitational.

Play starts today at 9 a.m., weather permitting, and is expected to run until about 8 p.m. Matches will be played on courts at Flathead Valley Community College, Linderman School and Northridge Park.

The double-elimination tournament is divided into brackets for No. 1s, No. 2s, No. 3s and No. 4s. Matches will be eight-game pro sets.

"I just hope to get my kids one more weekend of matches and a chance to see what Great Falls has to offer, since we don't get to play them during the regular season," FHS coach Buck Measure said.

All players will start the day at FVCC, then be dispatched to the appropriate location for matches throughout the day.

"Girls doubles will have some strong matches as well as boys singles," Measure said. "This is our only real home match of the season, so I'm hoping for a strong finish."

Dayson Mathison, Dan Lard and Travis Vaughan will go 1-2-3 for the Braves in singles play. Janessa Hatfield, Danielle Newton get the nod at Nos. 1 and 2 in girls singles, with No. 3 still undecided as of Thursday night.

In doubles play, Kelli Walterskirchen and Sara Newgard are the Bravettes' No. 1 duo, followed by Mallory Pisk and Jennifer Fallon at No. 2 and Alix Dixon and Hanna Hanes at No. 3.

For the Braves, Gabe Dawson and Tyler Barth will be in the top bracket, Chase Matteson and Greg Radel go at No. 2 and Josh Brann and Ryan Gregg No. 3.

After today's Invitational, Flathead gears up for next week's divisional tournament in Great Falls, which will decide who goes to the state tournament the following week in Bozeman.

Last year, the boys team finished second at divisionals and had a fourth place singles player and sixth place doubles team at state. The girls turned in a seventh-place showing at state.