Pony spikers get their revenge in Conrad

The Havre High volleyball team knew it has been getting better. But with just two wins on the season, it was looking for validation with actual victories, not just moral ones.

This weekend, they won their second straight match, proving that the Blue Ponies hard work is starting to pay off.

In a rematch of a defeat earlier this season, the Ponies exacted some revenge on the Conrad Cowgirls Saturday night in Conrad, earning the victory by the scores of 22-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20 and 15-12.

The match was reminiscent of the five-game thriller Conrad won earlier in the season, the only difference was, that this time, it was the Ponies, not the Cowgirls that rallied for a road victory.

“We have had a lot of really close matches, where the outcome didn’t finish the way we wanted it to, so for them to work as they did and to see the celebrations and how happy they were for themselves was rewarding,” HHS head coach Melanie Skoyen said. “They were just so excited to get that victory after putting in so much hard work.”

However, early on it did not appear that it would be a Pony victory as the Cowgirls jumped ahead of the Ponies by winning the first two sets to go ahead in the match 2-0.

“In the beginning, we weren’t playing that well,” Skoyen said. “We have improved a lot since the beginning of the season but Conrad has ,too. We had a few more hitting errors in the first two sets than we normally do and I think that was the difference.”

But HHS, led by junior Dani Wagner, rallied.

The Ponies won the third game by the score of 25-19 and the fourth game by the score of 25-20 to force a fifth and deciding game. And in the end, the Ponies were too much for Conrad to overcome as their momentum carried them to a 15-12 win in the fifth set to earn their third win of the season.

“We did a good job defensively of limiting their three-point runs and then we were able to limit our hitting errors,” Skoyen said. “Our offense was good and we were able to run a lot of quicks, so overall it was a good performance.”

One of the key factors in the come-from-behind victory for HHS was the play of Wagner, who led the Ponies in kills and assists with 12 and 31, respectively. The junior also finished second on the team with 13 digs.

“Dani played really great,” Skoyen said. “She served the ball really well, and she just had a very good all-around match.”

Reggie Bernard had another effective outing for the Ponies, finishing second on the team with nine kills to go along with three blocks and six digs. Carlene Rennick also continued her recent string of strong play and posted eight kills and 1.5 blocks.

“Reggie (Bernard) had a really good game, too,” Skoyen said. “Carlene Rennick also played well. She has just been really aggressive up front and that has really helped our offense.”

Megan Erickson was also solid for HHS, leading the Ponies with 15 digs. Naomi Terry contributed with 14 assists and three digs. Jacey McDonald added four kills and 2.5 blocks.

With the win, the Ponies improved to 3-11 on the season. They will be back in action again this Thursday when they travel to Choteau for another nonconference matchup against a Class B opponent.

Havre def. Conrad

22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 15-12

Havre – Killd 45 (Dani Wagner 12, Reggie Bernard 9, Carlene Rennick 8, Sami Huston 6 Megan Erickson 4, Jacey McDonald 4, Naomi Terry 2); Aces 10 (Megan Erickson 3, Madison Huebsch 3, Naomi Terry 2, Dani Wagner 1, Sami Huston 1 ); Assists 34 (Dani Wagner 18, Naomi Terry 14, Jacey McDonald 1, Reggie Bernard 1); Blocks 9 (Reggie Bernard 3, Carlene Rennick 1.5, Dani Wagner 1.5, Sami Huston 1.5, Jacey McDonald 2.5); Digs 57 (Megan Erickson 15, Dani Wagner 13, Madison Huebsch 10, Reggie Bernard 6, Sami Huston 6, Naomi Terry 3, Claire Worm 2, Jacey McDonald 2).