Blue Ponies look to avenge lone loss against Miles City

Through the first month of their season, the Havre High volleyball team has been red hot. The Blue Ponies have a 7-1 record with their lone loss coming in a five-set match against Miles City last month. Now the Ponies have a chance to get even with the Cowgirls when they head on the road to face Miles City this Saturday.

"We expect it to be another tough match after our experience seeing them here," HHS head coach Stephanie Huse said. "They look a lot like what our team looks like as far as how we run things, so it's a good challenge for us to face again, face the intensity and face it on their home floor."

Miles City heads into the weekend with a 3-6 overall record but a 3-1 record in the Northeast A right behind the Ponies in first place. As the winner of this match will take the lead in the Northeast A, Huse expects Miles City's strengths as a team to be on full display Saturday night.

"They're just pretty tenacious as far as their attack," Huse said. "They play very good defense and block well. All around when they put a match together, they're a tough team."

After their loss to Miles City in their first meeting, the Ponies have won four matches in a row, including three on the road. During that stretch, Huse believes her team has improved in the areas where they struggled against Miles City in their earlier meeting. Along with improving their serving from that match, the Ponies have played more aggressively the past few weeks.

"It felt like Miles City was a little bit more aggressive than we were," Huse said. "We're hoping that we'll have a little bit more success this time."

Not only are the Ponies coming off a week where they played two matches, but they are coming off of Havre High's homecoming week. After she gave her team Sunday and Monday to recover both emotionally and physically from the long week, Huse got her team right back to work on Tuesday.

"On Tuesday, we had practice and it was a fundamentally focused practice to get our mindset refocused to this week," Huse said. "Then the rest of the week, we'll be really focused on improving those pieces to our game that we need to and getting ready for the road trip."

Even as the Ponies have improved over the past few weeks and are well-rested, Huse still expects a tough match against Miles City just like their first meeting.

"I don't expect a ton to be different. I expect it to be a battle the entire match," Huse said. "I expect high intensity and a lot of energy on their home floor."

HHS volleyball will play Miles City Saturday at 4 p.m.