Havre High volleyball sweeps home opener

In last weekend's tip-off tournament in Sidney, the Havre High volleyball team defeated conference rival Lewistown in two sets. Heading into their home-opening match on Friday night against Lewistown, HHS head coach Stephanie Huse did not want that win to go to her team's head. It seemed like her team listened to her as the Blue Ponies defeated Lewistown, 3-0, at Blue Pony Gymnasium.

"Their effort was outstanding. They did a really good job of being aggressive the entire game which is kind of the point of what we wanted to accomplish this weekend," Huse said. "They were aggressive, controlled the ball and then attacked really well."

Havre got on the Golden Eagles early to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Early in the first set, the teams were tied 3-3. But Havre got it rolling as they scored 10 straight points to take a 13-3 lead. The Eagles started playing more competitively but Havre still built themselves a 21-10 lead. They then ended the set with four straight points to win the first set, 25-10.

The Ponies kept the momentum going into the second set as they raced out to a 5-0 lead. However, the Eagles did not let the set get away from them as they cut Havre's lead to 7-6. The Ponies got momentum back as they put together several runs to slowly push their lead 24-16. With the set on the line, Lewistown scored three straight points to cut their deficit to five points. But Avery Carlson ended it with a kill to give Havre a 25-19 win in the set and 2-0 lead in the match.

With just one more set needed to win the match, Havre came out aggressive in the third set for a 9-0 lead. They eventually went on to win the third set, 25-10, to win the match.

"It's just the mindset of being aggressive when we start serving," Huse said on jumping out early in sets. "I think that was the key. Starting off being aggressive and it kind of takes the wind out of other team's sales."

In her first official match with the Ponies, Jade Wendland led the team with 10 kills. She previously played volleyball for the North Star Knights before transferring to Havre. As a new member of the team, she hopes to continue making an impact for them as the season progresses.

"It feels pretty good. It's a great group of girls," Wendland said about playing for the Ponies for the first time on Friday night.

Havre had many returning players who made an impact on Friday night. Senior Alyssa Oliver recorded four service aces on the night while also leading the team with 30 digs. Maddie Columbus made an impact with nine kills and 1.5 blocks. Molly Huse recorded 32 out of the team's total 33 assists.

Even though the Ponies competed in the tip-of tournament last weekend, this match was their first official match of the season making them 1-0. Havre will not have much rest as they will next play Tuesday night at Blue against Laurel. While they opened the season with a strong performance, Huse knows the Ponies will need to keep working to be competitive in the Northeast A.

"Volleyball is one of those games that you have to just constantly stay on top of your fundamentals. If we do that, we'll continue to improve and get better," Huse said. "There's a lot of little things consistency wise that we need to do but overall the girls are doing a really good job."

HHS volleyball will next play against Laurel on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Blue Pony Gymnasium.

Havre def. Lewistown

25-10, 25-19, 25-10

HAV - Aces 9 (Alyssa Oliver 4, Yelena Miller 2); Kills 41 (Jade Wendland 10, Maddie Columbus 9, Avery Carlson 6); Assists 33 (Molly Huse 32, Wendland 1); Blocks 6 (Miller 2, Columbus 1.5); Digs 64 (Oliver 30, Carlson 12, Lizzi Haney 10).