Havre volleyball sweeps road trip

Coming off their first loss of the season, the Havre High volleyball team’s schedule did not get any easier with a two-match roadtrip this past weekend. On Friday night, the Blue Ponies defeated Sidney, 3-0, by scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-15. They then faced a battle Saturday at Glendive but they prevailed with a 3-2 win by scores of 25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 25-17 and 15-9.

“It was a great weekend for us. I thought against Sidney, we controlled the match the entire time,” HHS head coach Stephanie Huse said. “And then going against Glendive, it was quite a battle and I was really pleased with how the girls responded, going five sets with them and staying aggressive the entire time to come out with a win on them.”

The Ponies opened the weekend Friday with a sweep of Sidney. Looking to move past their loss to Miles City, Havre took an 11-10 lead over the Eagles in the first set. The Ponies then took momentum as they went on a 14-6 run to win the first set, 25-16.

The second set went the same way with the Ponies taking an early lead that they never relinquished. Havre went on to win the second set, 25-18. Havre did have to battle in the third as Sidney took a 7-3 lead to start the set. But Havre came back to win the third set, 25-15, to win the match.

“It was our focus this week to just be aggressive with everything that we were doing to control the game,” Huse said about why they swept Sidney. “Being aggressive throughout the match with our serving, being aggressive throughout it with our attack and our offense and that’s what I think was the biggest factor against Sidney.”

While Havre was able to sweep Sidney, they had to battle Saturday in their match against Glendive. In the first set, the Ponies and the Red Devils exchanged leads until they found themselves tied, 12-12. But Havre took momentum for a 25-20 victory for the 1-0 lead in the match.

Over the next two sets, Glendive got the better of the Ponies. The Devils took the early lead in the second set but Havre battled back for a 23-23 tie. Glendive then scored two straight points to win the second set, 25-23, to tie the match.

Looking to take the lead in the match, Havre took an early 9-3 lead to open the third set. But Glendive took momentum to tie the set, 13-13. Havre then took a 22-21 lead, but Glendive went on a 4-0 run to win the set, 25-22, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

With the match on the line, the Ponies took a 4-0 lead to start the fourth set. But again Glendive battled back. The fourth set was eventually tied at 16-16 but that is when Havre took momentum with a 9-1 run to win the set, 25-17 and force a decisive fifth set.

It looked like the fifth set would be another battle as the teams fought to an early 3-3 tie. Havre then took momentum with a 6-1 run for a 9-4 lead. The Ponies eventually went on to win the set, 15-9, to win the match, 3-2.

“The girls really stayed consistent and they were working hard no matter if we won or lost. They just continued to stay the course to stay aggressive,” Stephanie Huse said about how the Ponies won two sets in a row to win the match. “I think in the end, that’s what it came through for us was that we didn’t let up and we just kept going.”

With the two wins, Havre improves to 5-1 on the season. After their loss in five sets to Miles City the previous weekend, Stephanie Huse believes that experience helped her team against Glendive and will continue to help them moving forward.

“I was really pleased with how the girls responded because it was such a learning experience,” Huse said. “To go into another five-set battle with Glendive and be pretty determined to not let that match slip away from us, I think the girls did a good job of just really being determined to hold on to that win.”

HHS volleyball will next play against Browning Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Blue Pony Gymnasium.

Havre def. Sidney

25-16, 25-19, 25-15

HAV - Aces 16 (Molly Huse 6, Lizzi Haney 3, Alyssa Oliver 3); Kills 19 (Maddie Columbus 5, Yelena Miller 3); Assists 15 (Huse 15); Blocks 7 (Miller 3, Columbus 2, Jade Wendland 2); Digs 36 (Avery Carlson 10, Oliver 9).

Havre def. Glendive

25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-9.

HAV - Aces 6 (Avery Carlson 2, Molly Huse 2); Kills 55 (Yelena Miller 14, Maddie Columbus 13, Carlson 12); Assists 44 (Huse 41); Blocks 20 (Huse 8, Columbus 5); Digs 114 (Alyssa Oliver 31, Carlson 30).