Pony spikers have a smashing season debut

The Havre High volleyball team has been waiting for the first game of the 2020 season and once Friday came around, the Blue Ponies were ready to take the court and impress. That goal started off with a road-game against a Class B school, the Malta M-Ettes.

In Malta Thursday evening, Havre started off its 2020 season with an impressive 3-0 win over the M-Ettes, with the set scores being 25-23, 25-12 and 25-20. Havre made quite the impression already early on in the season with the victory over Malta, which will be quite the momentum for the future.

Havre head coach Steph Huse saw a lot of great things come about from the game against M-Ettes on the road.

“I thought the girls played really well,” Huse said. “They put up a great fight against Malta for the first game of the season. I feel like our fundamentals were sound and have improved. The girls had a great game on offense and defense, kept the momentum going and did good to get the first win of the season.”

The first set started off quite close. Havre would battle it out with the M-Ettes to open, snagging some leads and exchanging some great volleys. It would be tense from the beginning, but the Ponies were able to break away in the end, claiming the first set.

The second set saw a lot more of a lean in Havre’s favor, as the Ponies started off hot and kept up the pace, keeping the ball in the air, holding Malta from getting close to the lead and putting up plenty of kills to win the match and lead 2-0 in the game.

Malta did not lay down quietly, though, as Huse saw the M-Ettes play down the last volley.

“Malta played tough throughout the whole game,” Huse said. “They kept us on our toes and fought back, but our girls kept with it and shut things down defensively to stay ahead. It was a great game.”

Despite the M-Ettes’ efforts, Havre brought the power in the third and final set, too. The senior leadership of the Ponies kept the squad trucking volley after volley, all the while keeping the ball alive defensively. The set itself was still fairly close, as Malta kept working to try and take the lead later on, but Havre made sure to shut it down and get the first season win and road-win.

And at the end of the day, Huse saw a senior standout put up a great game in Malta.

“I thought Sydney Wilting, our libero, did great,” Huse said. “She is a senior with a lot of talent and worked really hard throughout the game. She is a great leader and is a real anchor for our team, so I thought she really stood out against Malta.”

After the battle, sophomore Yelena Miller led the Ponies in kills with eight, senior Ellie Collins had 24 assists, Collins and Kaylee Torgerson each had three aces and Wilting led the team in digs with 12. Overall, it was a great night for Havre to start off the 2020 season.

Next up, the Ponies (1-0) will face off against the Laurel Locomotives (0-1) Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Laurel, followed by Northeast A conference bouts against the Sidney Eagles at 7 p.m. Friday in Sidney and the Glendive Lady Devils (1-0) at 7 p.m. in Glendive Saturday to continue the season.

Havre def. Malta

25-23, 25-12, 25-20

HAV – Kills 28 (Sydney Wilting 1, Samantha Lovenguth 1, Kennedy Hampton 6, Ellie Collins 1, Maddie Columbus 4, Yelena Miller 8, Avery Carlson 7); Assists 25 (Collins 24, Kaylee Torgerson 1); Aces 10 (Torgerson 3, Wilting 1, Collins 3, Miller 2, Alyssa Oliver 1); Digs 35 (Torgerson 2, Wilting 12, Lovenguth 2, Hampton 5, Collins 2, Miller 5, Oliver 7).