HHS spikers start strong at Eastern A Tip-Off

The Havre Blue Pony volleyball team has worked hard throughout the summer and have been itching to play some sets.

The Blue Ponies got their chance at the Eastern A Preseason Tip-Off Tournament last weekend in Laurel.

Throughout the tournament, the Blue Ponies showed off some of the talent and skill that makes up the team. In the end, Havre made a great run to make it to the tournament’s championship game against Class A defending champions, the Billings Central Rams. Havre managed to win a set against BCCHS but lost two others and took second in the tournament. The end scores would be 22-25 and 21-25.

Head coach Tamecia Jarvis saw the tournament as a great opportunity to assess how her team played and what they can do in the future to fix some of the issues they faced.

“It was a slow start,” said Jarvis. “We split with most of the teams. We probably split with some teams that we should’ve beat both of our sets.”

Havre played short matches against Lewistown, Laurel, Sidney, Billings Central and Livingston Friday. On Saturday, Havre wrapped up pool play with Glendive.

In the bracket portion of the weekend, the Ponies split with Hardin 1-1 and Miles City 1-1, before falling to the Rams in the chipper.

Even at that, Jarvis was pleased that the Ponies made it to the tournament’s championship. Havre showed the Rams that they can play tough and give it their all.

“We split with Billings Central, that was a good feeling,” Jarvis continued. “I thought the girls played really well.”

There were some mistakes throughout the tournament, as well.

“The only reason I feel like we lost most of our games were our mistakes, no team came out and beat us,” Jarvis noted.

The confidence Jarvis has in her squad speaks multitudes on how good the team looks to be this season. Even if it’s preseason, the Blue Ponies are more than prepared to show up, work out the issues, and have a very exciting season.

The Blue Pony spikers will play two teams this week. They play at Great Falls Thursday at 4 p.m. The Ponies then play their first home game of the season against Browning Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Havre High gymnasium.