Ponies corral Cowgirls

The Havre High volleyball team added another win to its record after defeating the Miles City Cowgirls last Saturday in the Havre High Gymnasium.

The Ponies did not sweep the Cowgirls in their Northeast A rematch, but still got the match victory 3-1. Havre won by scores of 25-20, 15-25, 25-19 and 25-22.

Havre High head coach Tamecia Jarvis was looking for more in her team last Saturday but is relieved the Ponies still pulled away with the win.

"We could have played a lot better," Jarvis said. "We didn't play our game and let them (Miles City) dictate what we were doing, so definitely something we need to fix. I'm glad we won."

The first set was a great start for the Ponies, but was a tough set, too. The set saw a lot of back-and-forth scoring on both sides. Senior Sam Oliver got a kill, but Miles City responded with a 3-0 run not too long after. The Ponies went on a 4-0 run to take the lead and kept it through the rest of the game. Havre claimed the first set by ending it on a 4-0 run.

The second set is where complications for the Ponies started. Havre started off the game with a 4-2 lead but relinquished it after some mistakes. Miles City capitalized on the opportunities from there and went a 6-0 run late in the match. The Cowgirls kept the lead and tied the match after giving the Ponies a tough set.

Miles City continued to be a problem for the Ponies. The Cowgirls took the lead early, 4-1 in the third set. But the Ponies managed to come back and take the lead after some key kills by seniors Cassidy Acor and Jessa Chvilicek. Chvilicek had multiple blocks in the set that helped Havre come back, as well. Miles City made some mistakes in the rest of the set that allowed Havre to stay ahead. More kills from Acor, Chvilicek, senior Peyton Brown and senior Sam Oliver helped the Ponies keep the advantage and the set ended on a Chvilicek/Brown block, which gave the Ponies a 2-1 edge.

Jarvis was glad to see her team win the third set, but still knew mistakes hindered them.

"I'm proud that we came back, and we came back and won," said Jarvis. "There were a few times where we were down by five points and we came back and finished. That's always a plus, but I don't like starting out that way."

The fourth set saw some repetition in the mistakes the Ponies made and Miles City looked to give Havre another tough bout. Consecutive errors from the Blue Ponies gave Miles City the lead again early at 4-0. Havre did not get back into the lead until later in the set. With some key blocks from Chvilicek and junior Talia Ralph, the Blue Ponies tied things up at 8-8. Miles City, however, wouldn't go away. Still, Chvilicek, Oliver and Talia Ralph then put in some great effort. Chvilicek put up a block, while Oliver and Ralph had a kill each. Alongside some mistakes on Miles City's part, Oliver and Chvilicek took the lead back with a pair of kills 16-15. The Cowgirls tried to take the lead back and often tied the score afterward, but Havre pushed into the lead each time and stayed ahead to finish the Cowgirls off in four sets.

In the end, Havre racked up some great numbers. Senior Sydney Wilting led the team in aces with three, while Oliver put up nine kills, Brown totaled 26 assists, Chvilicek led in blocks with eight and Wilting tallied up 18 digs. In total, the Blue Ponies put up five aces, 28 kills, 27 assists, 11 blocks and 56 digs.

Jarvis concluded that her team, despite the victory, still has some work to do.

"A win is a win, but there's a lot of stuff we need to work on and fix for the match that we had today (Saturday)."

With the conference win over Miles City, Havre keeps a good lead in the Northeast A. The postseason is not far off for the Ponies, and they will have two more conference games before the divisional tournament. The Blue Ponies first opponent will be the Sidney Eagles, a team they swept on the road. Now, Sidney will travel up to Havre for a rematch.

The Havre Blue Ponies take to the court against the Sidney Eagles Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Havre High Gymnasium.

Havre def. Miles City

25-20, 15-25, 25-19, 25-22

HAV – Kills 28 (Sam Oliver 09, Jessa Chvilicek 08, Cassidy Acor 06), Assists 27 (Peyton Brown 26), Digs 56 (Sydney Wilting 18, Sam Oliver 09, Kennedy Hampton 07), Blocks 11 (Jessa Chvilicek 08, Talia Ralph 02), Aces 05 (Sydney Wilting 03, Katelyn Maloughney 02)

MC – Kills 36 (Taylor Lee 08, Sydney Johnstone 07), Assists 34 (Ryleigh Simonsen 19, Hope Herzog 13), Digs 64 (Ashton Anderson 13, Hope Herzog 11), Blocks 04 (Madison Maier 02, Sydney Johnstone 01, Mackenzie Rask 01), Aces 06 (Ryleigh Simonsen 02).