Ponies ready for the next step

There is no arguing that it has been a successful season for the Havre High volleyball team. But, when the season started, the Blue Ponies had a goal of making to the Class A state tournament and finally this week, they have the chance to make that goal a reality.

And for the first time in recent years, HHS will not go into divisionals as an underdog. In fact, when the Eastern A Divisional starts Thursday in Livingston, the Ponies will find themselves as one of the tournament favorites as they prepare for their opening-round match against Miles City. The Ponies and Cowgirls will do battle Thursday at 5 p.m.

“This is what they have been working for,” HHS head coach Tamecia Jarvis said. “There goal has been to get to divisionals and have a chance to make it to state. They have that chance now and we just need to keep playing like we have been, playing with same intensity and hustle that we have shown all year.”

Havre, which finished second in the Central A, will go head-to-head with Miles City, the No. 3 team from the East in a divisional tournament that for the first time combines the Central and the East to form one, nine-team, Eastern A tournament.

“We don’t know much about some of the teams,” Jarvis said. “We are still focused on ourselves and what we can do to improve. But we will watch the other teams hit the ball in warmups and see what they do and try to get a plan from there.”

Havre comes into divisionals riding a hot-streak as HHS has won six consecutive conference matches and seven straight matches overall. The Ponies also swept Lewistown for the first time in nearly a decade and also own a victory over defending Class A state champion Belgrade, which lost in Havre back on Oct. 24 in four sets.

The driving force behind Havre’s success has been a stellar senior class that is led by All-State performer Dani Wagner. Wagner is among the Central A leaders in kills, aces and assists and has been a tremendous all-around force for HHS this season.

Yet, the senior class also includes a slew of other contributors such as Reggie Bernard, Madison Huebsch, Megan Erickson and Kaitlin Nystrom. Bernard, who earned Second-Team All-Conference honors a season ago, has been dominant on the block this season and leads the Central A in digs coming into divisionals.

Bernard has also received plenty of help from Jacey McDonald, a junior, who is second in the Central A in blocks, to produce one of the top net-protecting tandems in Class A volleyball. However, the Havre defense has also benefited greatly from Huebsch, who is among the leaders in digs in the Central A and Erickson, who is another tenacious defender.

Havre will also be looking for contributions from Naomi Terry, who is fifth in the Central A in assists as a junior as well as Paige Nelson, Sammy Huston and Ceyara Plante.

“Having that block has really helped us,” Jarvis said. “I think we have done a good job of making it tough on our opponents. And then you have Madison back there, who is just relentless. She has really made things easier for our whole defense.”

Unlike in previous seasons, when teams had to finish in the top two of the five-team Central A divisional, in order to earn a berth in the state tournament, teams must finish in the top four of this weekend’s nine-team affair.

That will be made harder by some of the competition. The Ponies will see first-hand how tough the East is against a Miles City team that earned a berth at the state tournament a season ago. Then, if the Ponies win, they will likely face Billings Central, which plays Thursday against Livingston or the winner of a play-in game between Sidney and Laurel.

If Havre wins Thursday and in the next round on Friday 2 p.m., the Ponies would be assured of a berth in the state tournament. But a loss either Thursday or Friday would mean that Havre would need to win back-to-back matches to advance beyond this weekend.

On other side of the bracket, Belgrade is the top team and the Panthers will begin their state title defense Thursday against Glendive at 3 p.m. And just before that, Lewistown, the third team from the Central A, will take on Hardin, the second-place team from the East at 1 p.m.

When it’s all said and done four teams will still be playing and all four teams that make it to Saturday this week will also make it to the Class A state tourney, which starts in Bozeman on Nov. 12.

For Havre, it’s been almost a decade since they have made an appearance at the state tournament and after one of its most successful teams in recent memory, the Ponies believe that it’s their time to make it back.

“We can go all the way,” Wagner said recently after a win over Belgrade. “Definitely.”

The Eastern A tourney runs Thursday through Saturday in Livingston. The championship match of the tournament is Saturday at 5 p.m., with a second match if needed scheduled for 7 p.m. Matches that will determine fourth place and third place will take place Saturday at 11 a.m., and 3 p.m., respectively.