Pony spikers take aim at a return to state

The Havre High volleyball team locked in a No. 2 seed in the Northeastern A conference standings after a strong win over the Sidney Eagles last weekend.

Now, the Blue Ponies have a trip to state in their sights.

Havre's regular season home finale last week against Hardin was canceled, and the final game against Billings Central was also canceled due to some changes for the 2020 Eastern A Divisional Tournament.

Havre head coach Steph Huse explained the reason for the sudden redirection.

"That match was canceled after the decision came out to move the divisional tournament from a host site to a playoff format," Huse said. "If we would have played this match it would not have given us time to practice and prepare for our first-round match for divisional."

Now, the postseason for volleyball starts today, as the 2020 Eastern A Divisional Tournament will have its opening-round games. The tournament shifted to a playoff format because of COVID-19 issues.

From the Southeastern A, there are the No. 1 Billings Central Rams, the No. 2 Hardin Bulldogs, the No. 3 Laurel Locomotives and the No. 4 Livingston Rangers. From the Northeastern A, there are the No. 1 Glendive Lady Devils, the No. 2 Havre Blue Ponies, the No. 3 Miles City Cowgirls and the No. 4 Sidney Eagles.

As for the Blue Ponies, they will be hosting the Locomotives tonight at 6 in the Havre High Gymnasium. If Havre comes away with the win over Laurel, they will have a spot in the 2020 Class A State Tournament, meaning a lot is on the line already for the Ponies tonight.

Even so, Huse is excited to start off the tournament against a strong Locomotives team.

"We first saw Laurel for our second match of the season, at their place, and we were just beginning our season together as a team," Huse said. "There has been a lot of growth and development that we have made, and we are looking forward to playing them again."

The Ponies have some history with Laurel, as Havre knocked the Locomotives out of the 2019 divisional tournament to earn a state appearance. Laurel and the Ponies met early in the season, too, as the Locomotives thumped Havre 3-1 in Laurel. But there has been a lot of improvement from the Ponies since then and there is no doubt that the game will come down to the stronger team.

As for the playoffs as a whole, Havre has to win its opening bout to have a spot in the state tournament, as there will be no losers bracket this season due to some altered changes that had to be made. But if the Ponies move forward, they will either face a tough team in the No. 1 Billings Central Rams or the No. 4 Sidney Eagles. From there, the losers of the semifinals will play for third and fourth place, while the winners will face off for first and second place.

There will be a lot of pressure come tonight, but Huse is glad to be able to watch her team give it their all at home.

"We were excited to discover that we had put ourselves in a position to take second in our conference, which led us to being able to host a first-round match and gave us the opportunity to compete on our home floor at least one last time," Huse said.  "I am excited for our team, especially our seniors, who have done an amazing job of leading us and keeping us focused on the goals that we wanted to accomplish this season."

With that, the Havre Blue Ponies (8-3) will play against the No. 3 Laurel Locomotives tonight at 6 p.m. in the Havre High Gymnasium as a part of the 2020 Eastern A Divisional Tournament. The winner will face the winner of the Billings Central-Sidney game Tuesday at the higher seed's home court. The Eastern A playoffs will wrap up this weekend with championship and consolation matches.