Havre High volleyball tips off season with Lockwood tournament

After finishing second at last year’s state tournament, the Havre High volleyball team is looking to continue that success this season. To get themselves ready for that run, the Blue Ponies began the new season with the tipoff tournament in Lockwood this past weekend. With their first competition of the year, HHS head coach Stephanie Huse liked what the weekend had to offer.

“I was just really pleased with how the tipoff tournament went for our girls. They definitely showed signs of potential and showed signs of things that we’re doing well,” Huse said. “It also provided us a lot of insight to things that we need to become more consistent with and just fine tune and work on.”

Throughout the tournament, the Ponies played against many teams they will face this season. In the tournament’s matches, the Ponies only played two sets to 20 points. The Ponies started the weekend with a match against Livingston Friday. The Ponies played well as they won both sets by scores of 20-11 and 20-9.

The Ponies continued the tournament with a match against Sidney, a conference opponent. Havre kept up its strong play with wins of 20-5 and 20-18 in the two sets of the match. The Ponies played another conference opponent in Lewistown, where they won both sets by scores of 20-12 and 20-12.

The next match for the Ponies was a state championship rematch with Billings Central. If this match was any indication, these two teams will be evenly matched this year. After the Rams won the first set, 20-19, the Ponies responded to win the second set, 20-19, to split the match.

“We always go back and forth with Central. That was proven last year and over the weekend, when we faced them, it ended up a dogfight again,” Huse said. “It was a good battle. They’re a well-coached team and they’re always going to be tough competition.”

The Ponies ended Friday with another match against a tough opponent, this time against Hardin. The Bulldogs demonstrated they should be a strong program this fall as they won both sets against Havre by scores of 20-15 and 20-18.

On Saturday, the Ponies bounced back by winning both their sets against Lockwood. After several tight sets against Billings Central and Hardin, the Ponies won their sets by scores of 20-11 and 20-14 against Lockwood.

Later on Saturday, the Ponies played another conference foe in Glendive. Havre won both sets by scores of 20-14 and 20-17. The Ponies played another conference opponent in Miles City and won both sets by scores of 20-10 and 20-10. After playing their division opponents at the tournament, Huse expects many tough battles throughout the fall.

“As far as our division goes, I think everybody has improved,” Huse said. “All the teams have improved, which means it’s going to be a really good division to compete in for us and to be challenged by this season.”

The Ponies capped off the weekend with a match they split against Laurel. After Havre won the first set, 20-19, Laurel came back to win the second set 20-14.

Many Ponies played well to begin the season. Throughout the tournament, Kyanna Jarvis led the Ponies with 45 kills and 11 service aces. She also recorded 34 digs for Havre. Molly Huse also had a strong start to the fall with 126 assists, 34 digs and 10 service aces through the weekend.

Avery Carlson played well in the tournament with 46 digs and 36 kills. Yelena Miller started the season with 35 kills, nine blocks and seven service aces over the weekend. Other contributors include Lizzi Haney with a team-high 62 digs and Elle Verploegen with her three blocks.

Now that the tipoff tournament is over, the real work begins with the season beginning later this week. As they head into the fall, Stephanie Huse believes everything they saw and learned over the course of this past weekend will help the Ponies compete.

“I just really like this tournament because we get to see everybody and we get to play everybody,” Huse said. “I think the girls really enjoyed it as well. It’s always good to see the team chemistry and how they respond on the floor with each other. Even though we have a lot of girls in new spots, new roles and new responsibilities, to see how they rose to that challenge and how they’re going to attack this year is also good to see.”

The HHS volleyball team will play its first match of the season this Saturday on the road in Sidney.