Havre volleyball wins on the road to finish regular season undefeated

The Havre High volleyball team wrapped up the regular season with a pair of matches on the road this past weekend. The Blue Ponies have had a strong season and they showed no signs of slowing down as they defeated Livingston in three sets (25-13, 25-15, 25-23) on Friday night and then defeated a tough Hardin squad in four sets (25-17, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23) on Saturday night.

“I was really excited for the girls and how they finished their regular season,” HHS head coach Stephanie Huse said. “It was nice to see the girls execute and do what they needed to do to finish their season strong.”

The Ponies started the weekend strong with their win over Livingston. They looked strong in the first two sets as they won the first set, 25-13, and then they won the second set, 25-15, to take a 2-0 lead in the match. In their first match of the weekend, Huse was happy to see her team play well on defense.

“Against (Livingston), they were very scrappy and were pretty tenacious on defense,” Huse said. “Our girls did a good job of just staying the course and continuing to be smart and aggressive.”

Livingston played better in the third set to make it more competitive. But the Ponies came out with the 25-23 victory to take the match in three sets. Kyanna Jarvis had a strong match with 11 kills and two service aces. Avery Carlson also played well with nine kills, three service aces and 10 digs.

The Ponies continued their strong weekend with a match on the road against Hardin. The Hardin Bulldogs are one of the toughest teams in the state, so the Ponies were ready for a fight.

The Ponies played well in the first set to win, 25-17, to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second set was more competitive with the Ponies and Bulldogs going back and forth, but the Ponies were able to pull out the 26-24 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Huse believes everyone contributed to the win for the Ponies Saturday.

“I was proud to see the girls just really work hard together across the board. Everybody that touched the floor just worked extremely hard the entire time they were out there,” Huse said. “They were really focused and determined to find success and I think all that hard work paid off. That’s why we ended up winning that match.”

Looking to extend the match, the Bulldogs played better in the third set to win 25-22. But the Ponies responded in the fourth set to pull out a 25-23 victory to take the match in four sets. With the adversity they faced against Hardin, Huse believes that will help prepare the Ponies for the postseason.

“At the heart of it, we were doing everything we needed to do against Hardin,” Huse said. “It was definitely competition and stress that we needed to experience and go through as a team. That kind of pressure and stress is going to come at the divisional tournament and to have that experience prior to going into divisionals is valuable.”

Carlson had 16 kills and 23 digs against Hardin. Emilee Chambliss and Jarvis each had eight kills in the match with Jarvis also recording 18 digs, two blocks and a service ace.

With the solid weekend, the Ponies finished their regular season with an undefeated record of 14-0 and 8-0 in the Northeast A. The Ponies will look to build on that as they begin the postseason with divisionals later this week. While the Ponies are focused on the upcoming postseason, Huse wants her team’s undefeated season to be commended.

“They’ve earned an undefeated season. They’ve worked extremely hard to accomplish that and we don’t want that to go unnoticed,” Huse said. “We’re going to have a clean slate and we’re going to have a new focus and a new challenge ahead of us. I’m excited for these girls who have worked really hard to get themselves into this position.”

The HHS volleyball team will begin the divisional tournament in Sidney this Thursday.

Havre def. Livingston

25-13, 25-15, 25-23

HAV - Aces 7 (Avery Carlson 3, Emilee Chambliss 2, Kyanna Jarvis 2); Kills 34 (Jarvis 11, Carlson 9, Yelena Miller 5); Assists 27 (Molly Huse 23); Blocks 6 (Miller 6, Chambliss 1, Huse 1); Digs 48 (Lizzi Haney 11, Carlson 10, Huse 10).

Havre def. Hardin

25-17, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23

HAV - 5 (Yelena Miller 3, Kyanna Jarvis 1, Molly Huse 1); Kills 47 (Avery Carlson 16, Emilee Chambliss 8, Jarvis 8); Assists 40 (Molly Huse 39); Blocks 6 (Jarvis 2, Huse 2, Elle Verploegen 1); Digs 89 (Lizzi Haney 25, Carlson 23, Jarvis 18).