Blue Ponies look to finish regular season strong

The regular season finally comes to an end for the Havre High volleyball team with a doubleheader this weekend. First, the Blue Ponies head on the road to play Livingston on Friday night before they return home to face Hardin at Blue Pony Gymnasium on Saturday in their regular season finale. With the season coming to an end, HHS head coach Stephanie Huse hopes that her team keeps momentum going just before divisionals begin next week.

"The expectation is that we are going to finish strong, really focusing on working together, making sure we're clean on all of our offensive and defensive executions," Huse said. "Just really trying to enjoy playing volleyball the last week of the regular season."

The Ponies have had a stellar regular season and look to keep that going this weekend. Along with a 11-1 record and first-place hold on the Northeast A, the Ponies have won eight straight matches heading into their match against Livingston on Friday night.

The Ponies and Rangers previously played in the tip-off tournament in Sidney back in August. In that two-set match, the Ponies won by scores of 20-10 and 20-11. Livingston is currently fourth in the Southeast A with a conference record of 2-6 and overall record of 2-8. If the Rangers are going to give Havre trouble on Friday, it will be because of their size.

"They seem pretty young, and they've got some bigger girls on their squad that will present bigger blocks for us to go against," Huse said.

The Ponies will return home to face a tough Hardin squad. Last season, the Bulldogs had an excellent season that ended with them finishing third in the State Class A Volleyball Tournament. The Bulldogs have continued their success this season as they have a 10-4 overall record and are second in the Southeast A. One notable player who returned from that squad is Rylee Kogolshak, who was second team all-conference last season. If the Ponies are going to end the regular season with a win, they will need to bring their best against Hardin.

"They work extremely hard. They're just a good volleyball program," Huse said about Hardin. "I expect them to be a big challenge for our girls."

Divisionals will begin for the Ponies next weekend in Laurel. With just two more matches this season, Huse hopes that her girls use that time to keep up their momentum so they will be ready for the postseason.

"Our main focus is that we're going to just do what we did at the beginning of the season, which was really enjoying playing volleyball together, making sure that we're fundamentally sound and not getting too far ahead of ourselves," Huse said. "Getting really disciplined within our matches and taking it one step at a time and making sure that we're controlling momentum."

The Ponies will play on the road Friday at 7 p.m. at Livingston. The Ponies will then return home to Blue Pony Gymnasium to finish up their regular season with a match against Hardin Saturday at 2 p.m.