Pony spikers make home debut tonight

There is something different about playing in front of the hometown crowd. And after beginning the 2014 season on the road, the Havre High volleyball team is itching to take the floor at the HHS gymnasium for the first time.

Tonight, the Blue Ponies will get their wish as they start a busy weekend with a nonconference match against Conrad. HHS (0-2) will try to get its first official victory of the season after dropping a pair of conference games last weekend. The Ponies did win some matches and ended up third in the Windy City Classic, which was held in Livingston but those games do not count toward their official record.

"They are pumped up to play in front of their fans," HHS head coach Melanie Skoyen said. "One of their goals coming into this season was to be very enthusiastic and celebrate everything and make the homes games more exciting that way, so we are drawing more fans and creating a tougher environment for other teams when they come play us."

The Ponies split with Conrad last season, so even though the Cowgirls reside in the ranks of Class B, they should still present a challenge for HHS.

"We play Conrad every year and actually last year we split with them," Skoyen said. "We just had an off against them last year and they played spectacular. So hopefully that is something our girl's keep in the back of their minds. (Conrad) is one of those schools that is going to get really pumped up to play us because they are playing up against a Class A school."

The Ponies will be led into the Conrad match by senior Jordyn Warren, who is coming off an outstanding performance at last weekend's Windy City Classic. Currently, Warren is leading the Central A conference with 68 kills.

Others that will play key roles for HHS tonight will be junior Dani Wagner, who ranks fourth in the conference with 57 assists as well as junior Reggie Bernard and senior Carlene Rennick, who are tied for fourth in the Central A with seven blocks after one weekend of play.

"I am looking for Reggie to do well this week," Skoyen said. "She had a really good week of practice and in the Windy City Classic she wasn't swinging away like she normally does until the end of the tournament. But once she was hitting the ball and connecting well with our setters, it really boosted our offense."

Conrad should present some challenges for the Ponies, but after they take on the Cowgirls, the Ponies will have no time to rest as they head to the Electric City Classic, which begins in Great Falls Friday.

The tournament, which features a number of Class AA schools as well as Lewistown and Havre, will begin with pool play. Each team will play four games in pool play and HHS will get things started off on Friday morning, when they square off against Helena High, Butte High, Billings Senior and Flathead high school from Kalispell.

The top teams from pool play will advance to the tournament's championship bracket Saturday and the teams that finish near the bottom of pool play will take part in a consolation tournament.

"I love this tournament because you can just see us getting better each day the more that we play," Skoyen said. "There is a big difference from when we get there on the first day to when are finished playing on Saturday. It does get frustrating because we are playing against such big players. They are able to hit around your block and score around you, so we need to be really good defensively But these games do not count against our record, so it's just a chance for us to get lots of reps, lots of playing time and even if we don't get a lot of wins just competing against some really good teams will help us improve."

The Ponies will be looking to get their first win of the season tonight against Conrad. The match will start at 7 at the HHS gymnasium. Then Friday, HHS will travel to Great Falls and play their opening match of the Electric City Classic at 10:45 a.m. The Electric City Classic runs through Saturday at both CMR and Great Falls High. HHS also hosts Browning next Friday.