Choteau turns away Blue Ponies in Havre

For the second straight match the Havre High volleyball team got off to a slow start, and for the second straight match the Blue Ponies were also unable to turn that slow start into a comeback win.

The Central A Ponies competed in just their second home match of the season on Saturday. And while the Ponies have without a doubt continuously gotten better since the beginning of the season, the young squad continues to struggle with consistency.

Saturday at the Havre High gymnasium, the Ponies hosted the Class B Choteau Bulldogs. The Bulldogs defeated the Ponies in four games by scores of 25-8, 23-25, 25-15 and 25-16.

“There are times when I look at them and we are an absolute dream team,” Havre High head coach Melanie Skoyen said. “And then the very next play they come out and look like they have no business being on the court. That is something we need to fix in practice, I just don’t know. We work on serve-receive every single day, and apparently that is not enough. I guess we need to change it up and work on it at the beginning and the end of practice. It is so mental, but serve receive is something that we shouldn’t have to think about. It should be the easiest part of the game, but we make it the most difficult.”

And struggling to handle the tough serving by the Bulldogs is mainly to blame for the Ponies being out of their element and struggling to keep pace.

The Bulldogs finished the afternoon with 13 aces but it was more than that. The Ponies looked to be out of position and struggled to handle the serve on nearly occasion. HHS also had some miscommunication on the court and looked to be one step behind. In the opening game the Bulldogs used a handful of Pony errors to jump out to a 16-3 lead over the Ponies. The Bulldogs closed out the game with a 9-5 run to defeat the Ponies handily.

And after the Ponies were able to bounce back and take game two, the struggles continued for the Ponies. The inconsistencies continued and a team as good as Choteau is going to benefit from that.

“Our passers, when they finally gave a good pass,” Skoyen said. “Our setters weren’t expecting it. Our sets were inconsistent even on a good pass. I think we have a lot of mental errors and mental mistakes, and consistency is the name of the game for us right now.”

Martha Stocker had a great stretch for the Ponies, and was key in the game two victory. And if Stocker can continue to dominate like she did, the Ponies should continue to grow around her.

HHS jumped out to a 12-7 lead and looked to have found a groove. Aubrea Worm pitched in with two early aces, while the Ponies also had two early blocks. But late in the game the Ponies trailed 23-22, and that is when Stocker stepped up and took over. Stocker was a dominating force and ended the game with three consecutive blocks, giving the Ponies the 25-23 win. Stocker also added another block and a kill to start game three, just for good measure, and proving she could be a major presence.

Stocker finished with a team high eight kills and a team high four blocks.

“That was great,” Skoyen said. “Martha was MVP of the game for us, and that is something we do every match. She has so much fire and the girls feed off of her, and when she is on like that the team plays well.”

Worm and Lacey Waid finished with six kills each for the Ponies, and Finneman added two blocks. Ellery Bresler led the Ponies with eight assists and Dani Wagner added six, while Tatiana Ralph led the Ponies with 14 digs and Wagner added another nine. Ralph and Worm also had two aces each.

Unfortunately, the Ponies were only able to grab a win in game two, and dropped the match to a very good Bulldog team.

Now sitting at 3-5 overall and 1-1 in the Central A, the Ponies prepare for another busy weekend. On Thursday the Ponies will face CMR in Great Falls. And on Friday the Ponies will host Conrad, followed by another home match on Saturday, as the Ponies host Browning.

Choteau def. Havre

25-8, 23-35, 25-15, 25-16

Choteau – Kills 38 (Celie Salmond 11); Blocks 13 (Celie Salmond 6); Assists 29 (Alicia Fladstal 16); Digs 42 (Haley Henderson 14); Aces 13 (Haley Henderson 5).

Havre – Kills 29 (Martha Stocker 8, Aubrea Worm 6, Lacey Waid 6); Blocks 9 (Martha Stocker 4, Jacinta Finneman 2.5); Assists 15 (Ellery Bresler 8, Dani Wagner 6); Digs 49 (Tatiana Ralph 14, Dani Wagner 9); Aces 5 (Tatiana Ralph 2, Aubrea Worm 2).