George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports
gferguson@havredailynews.com
Sometimes winning isn't pretty, but what matters to most head coaches is getting the job done, which is exactly how it went for the Havre High volleyball team Saturday night in Browning.
The Blue Ponies didn't play their best match of the season, but when things got close, Havre was able to put the Indians away. Havre defeated Browning by scores of 25-20, 25-22 and 25-12 to remain undefeated in Central A conference play.
"I don't want to say that we played poorly," said HHS head coach Bill Huebsch "But we just didn't seem to have the intensity that we have had in previous matches."
In the first two games of the match, the undermanned Indians managed to keep things close with Havre. But the Ponies were able to forge ahead and finish both games off just as things were getting interesting. In the final game, Havre started to play at a much higher level and never really allowed Browning's offense to get involved.
"I thought Browning played really well and we were just kind of plodding along in the first two games," Huebsch said. "But the kids really turned it up a notch in the third game and I think the score is indicative of that.
"Again, I don't think we played badly," Huebsch added. "We did a lot of good things and you can't take anything away from Browning. They played very well."
Indeed, the Ponies did do some very good things during the match. Havre had been serving at 91 percent as a team this season, but in Browning they upped that total to 95 percent. The Ponies had eight aces on the night, including four from senior Karissa Olson. The Ponies also had 58 digs in three games, which means they are continuing to play very sound defense as they have all season.
"One of the nice things that I saw was that we were able to really finish well," Huebsch said. "We didn't do that in Great Falls, but when things got close against Browning the kids stepped up and finished each game off."
Offensively, the Ponies had 37 kills on the night. Lena Suek led the way with 10 kills and also led the Ponies with 11 digs. Carmen Neuens chipped in with seven kills. Senior Alexa Lipp had 32 of Havre's 33 assists on the night. Liz Handy also had three of Havre's eight service aces.
The win improves Havre's conference record to 4-0 on the young season. The Ponies are now 8-2 overall as they prepare to step out of conference Thursday night when they travel to Class B Fort Benton.
"We don't know much about Fort Benton," Huebsch admitted. "This will be the first time we have seen them. But we are playing well and we'll go down there hoping to get another win."
Havre def. Browning
25-20, 25-22 and 25-12.
Havre - Kills 37 (Lena Suek 10, Carmen Neuens 7); Blocks 2 (Signe Hillson 1); Digs 58 (Lena Suek 11, Keelie Solomon 10); Assists 33 (Alexa Lipp 32); Aces 8 (Karissa Olson 4, Liz Handy 3).
