HHS spikes Browning

Every coach is worried about how their team will play on homecoming weekend and whether or not the festivities will turn into a distraction. But, for the Havre High volleyball team, there were no ill effects as the Blue Ponies took care of business.

Havre welcomed Browning into the HHS gymnasium Saturday night for a Central A conference battle and despite a sloppy second game, the Ponies cruised to a 3-1 victory by the scores of 25-8, 19-25, 25-15 and 25-4. With the win, HHS is now 3-1 in Central A play and 6-5 overall.

"It's been a crazy week," HHS head coach Tamecia Jarvis said. "Practice has been a little bit tough with our focus and things like that, but I am glad that they pulled it out. I am proud of them."

The Ponies got off to a hot start in the last sporting event of homecoming weekend in Havre, as they jumped out to a 20-7 lead in the first set, en route to a 25-8 victory that gave them a 1-0 advantage in the match.

Yet, the Indians were determined not to go down without a fight and and tied the score early in the second set at 3-3. Then, Havre made a run and after a kill by Dani Wagner the Ponies were in front 9-5.

Later in the second game, the Ponies built a 13-10 lead thanks to a kill by Wagner, but then suddenly, things went downhill for HHS. The Indians got a spark thanks to a couple kills by Jacelyn Croff and Caroline McEvers to put Browning in front 16-14, following a 6-1 run.

Havre tried to turn things around but a number of hitting errors doomed the Ponies in game two and after the Indians outscored them 15-6 to close the set, the match was tied up at 1-1.

"I think that we just need to work on competing all the time," Jarvis said. "Not that we aren't working hard and competing. We just have times where we seem to float around and just go through the motions, and we need to be better about not doing that."

In the third set, the teams opened by scoring points back and forth until the Indians held a slight advantage at 10-9. But at that point, Havre took control of the game. Thanks to a couple kills by Wagner, a kill by Paige Nelson and an emphatic block by Reggie Bernard, as well as some hitting errors by Browning, the Ponies went on a 10-1 run to surge ahead 19-11. Then, when it reached game-point, Wagner shut the door on the Indians with a kill that gave HHS a 25-15 win and a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth set, the Ponies dominated. Wagner opened the set with a kill and then Havre proceeded to score the next 12 points to take a commanding 13-0 lead. Browning did manage to score a few points, but it wasn't nearly enough and when Nelson nailed home a kill on game-point, it gave the Ponies a 25-4 win and 3-1 match victory.

"It feels great," Havre senior Madison Huebsch said about winning on homecoming. "We were struggling with our communication. But once we started talking and communicating, we turned it around and got it done."

Wagner had another stellar outing for the Ponies as the All-State performer had a stat line that boasted six kills, nine aces, 19 assists and 16 digs. Bernard also had an outstanding night for Havre with 10.5 blocks and five kills. Megan Erickson pitched in with 20 digs and six kills, Naomi Terry had two blocks and five assists. Huebsch also contributed with 18 digs.

"I thought we had a lot of girls step up for us tonight," Jarvis said. "That's what we want to see. I am moving the girls around a lot and I want to see them all making a contribution. We still need to improve and I think we will do so more competitive things this week in practice, but I was happy with the way we hustled tonight."

The Ponies will be back in action this coming Friday, when they will travel to Browning for a rematch with the Indians. The match will begin at 7 p.m. in Browning.

Havre def. Browning

25-8, 19-25, 25-15, 25-4

Havre - Kills 30 (Dani Wagner 6, Megan Erickson 6, Reggie Bernard 5); Aces 20 (Wagner 9); Assists 24 (Wagner 19, Naomi Terry 5); Digs 87 (Erickson 20, Madison Huebsch 18, Wagner 16); Blocks 17 (Bernard 10.5, Jacey McDonald 3, Naomi Terry 2).