Havre volleyball ready for another strong season

The Havre High volleyball team has a lot to look forward to this fall. The Blue Ponies return many players from their team that finished second at the Class A state tournament last fall. As they try to reach those heights once again this season, HHS head coach Stephanie Huse wants to see her players continue to bring the effort.

"I just expect the girls to take each day as it comes. To be focused on being challenged, to learn and grow and just work hard every single day," Huse said. "We have a lot of girls who are back this year that have been in our program and we just want them to consistently work hard and be challenged and willing to get better every time they're on the floor."

Yelena Miller returns for her senior season as the middle for the Ponies after an all-state season last year. Avery Carlson and Molly Huse are another pair of returning seniors who earned second team all-conference honors last year. Lizzi Haney will also return for Havre to play in the Libero spot this fall. With their experience from last year's state tournament, Stephanie Huse expects that to be valuable this year.

"I think our strength is our experience," Huse said. "They know how to compete, they know what it was like going through our season and then being able to play in the state championship last year and being able to bring that experience with them is valuable."

The Ponies will also have several players getting more time on the court this season. After playing outside hitter last season, Kyanna Jarvis should bring her experience as she gets more playing time this fall. Emilee Chambliss has plenty of volleyball experience but this year will see her get significant minutes. Junior Elle Verploegen and freshman Ariana Gary will also compete for time at the middle position this season.

In the Northeast A, the Ponies will compete against Sidney, Miles City, Lewistown and Glendive. The Ponies will look for a repeat of last year's success when they went 7-1 in conference play in the regular season.

The Ponies will face many non-conference opponents throughout the season. Over the course of the fall, they will play matches against Laurel, Browning, Ronan, Livingston and Hardin. The Ponies will also get preparation for the postseason with a pair of tournaments in Lockwood and Butte. As she looks ahead at their schedule, Huse believes all their opponents will come to play.

"Every competition that we're going to have this year is going to be a challenge for us," Huse said. "We're just looking forward to every challenge that comes our way."

The Ponies will start the season this weekend with the tipoff tournament in Lockwood. In their matches, the Ponies will play a pair of sets to 20 points against their opponents. At the end of the tournament, the two teams with the best record would play in the championship match, which would be best two out of three sets played to 25 points.

Havre started the tournament this morning with a match against Park. The Ponies will then play again later this afternoon against their conference opponent Sidney. Then at 4 p.m. tonight, the Ponies will face another conference foe in Lewistown. At 6:15 p.m. tonight, Havre will face Billings Central for the first time since the state championship match last fall. The Ponies will wrap up today at 7 p.m. with a match against Hardin.

The Ponies will continue the tipoff tournament Saturday at 10:15 a.m. with a match against Lockwood. Then at 11 a.m., the Ponies will play against Glendive. Then at 12:30 p.m., the Ponies face another conference opponent in Miles City. The Ponies will end pool play with a match against Laurel at 1:15 p.m. The tournament championship match between the top two teams will take place at 3:30 p.m. The Ponies get to face many teams this weekend that they will encounter over the course of the season, so Huse looks forward to seeing how her team competes against them and how they grow early in the season.

"I really enjoy the tipoff tournament because we're able to see all the teams in our conference in our division, get a look at them and see what they're bringing to the table," Huse said. "I just want to see growth, I want to see that consistency develop and get better than where we started. Basically any step forward is a good step so those are the things I'm looking for."

The Ponies had a strong season last year as they went 18-4 and finished second at the state tournament. The Ponies came close to a state title last year but they lost two straight matches to Billings Central in the state title matches. As the Ponies now head into this season, they will need to carry over what they learned from last year's run if they want to get that far again.

"I think all of those experiences that we went through last year will be valuable and will have an impact on this season," Huse said. "We can't look back. We just need to stay in the present moment and deal with everything day to day."

The HHS volleyball team began the season today with the tip-off tournament in Lockwood.