Havre High spikers corral Cowgirls

For the last week in practice, the Havre High volleyball team focused on getting back to basics.

And Saturday night in Conrad, that hard work paid off as the Blue Ponies earned a sweep over the Cowgirls.

The Ponies, who had played in a number of preseason tournaments, had just one match this week, and during it they took care of business, defeating Conrad 25-12, 25-22 and 25-8 to earn their third win of the season and improve their overall record to 3-4.

“We finally won a match,” HHS head coach Tamecia Jarvis said. “We spent a lot of time scrimmaging this week in practice and working on fixing all the little things. We also watched some film and I think that paid off for us.”

On the road, against a Class B rival, HHS controlled the match from start to finish.

The Ponies grabbed the first game with a 13-point victory and managed to hang on in the second, a hard-fought game that saw Havre escape with a 25-22 win. Yet the Ponies made sure they closed out the Cowgirls in style with a dominating 25-8 win in the final set to seal the deal.

After having some struggles in the hitting department, Havre showed improvement against Conrad, finishing the match with 15 kills, compared to just 11 for the Cowgirls. HHS also out-performed the Cowgirls in every other statistical category except for blocks. The Ponies had 15 assists, 10 aces and 42 digs, while Conrad had eight assists, four aces and just 10 digs. The Cowgirls did manage nine blocks; Havre had four.

“We got Naomi Terry back from injury and that was a big boost,” Jarvis said. “It made it so I didn’t have to micromanage everything so much because she is pretty vocal and she did a great job of getting our players the ball in a good position. They are used to having her set, so they are familiar with her.”

In terms of individual performances, two seniors played a vital role in the win for HHS. Jacey McDonald, who has been a big producer all year for the Ponies, had a big night, with a team-high seven kills to go along with five aces and a block. Fellow senior Terry, who returned for her first action of the season after missing time due to injury, led all players on both teams with 13 assists. She also had a match-high seven digs. The other key contributor for Havre was Alex Donaldson, who finished the match with 1.5 blocks.

“Jacey did well,” Jarvis said. “Having Naomi back helped her because Naomi knows where she wants the ball, but she did a nice job around the net for us and in the middle.”

The Ponies (3-4) will be back in action this Saturday, when they will host Choteau in a non-conference match inside the HHS gymnasium. Start time is set for approximately 2 p.m.

Havre def. Conrad

25-12, 25-22, 25-8

Havre leaders – Kills 15 (Jacey McDonald 7); assists 15 (Naomi Terry 13); aces 10 (McDonald 5); digs 42 (Terry 7); blocks 4 (McDonald, Alex Donaldson 1.5).

Conrad leaders – Kills 11 (Brooke Mycke 3); assists 8 (Kate Murack 4); aces 4 (Kinsey Harris 2); digs 10 (Dania Jones 4); blocks 9 (N/A).