George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
With the fall season now officially in the books, all-conference and allstate awards are being handed out across the Hi-Line. In Class A volleyball, four Havre Blue Ponies earned Central A All- Conference honors and one Pony was named to the Class A All-State team. Havre High senior outside hitter Lena Suek capped off an outstanding career for HHS head coach Bill Huebsch by earning first-team all-conference and first-team all-state honors in her senior season. Suek was also one of 11 Blue Ponies to garner Academic All-State honors. Suek led HHS this past season with 302 kills, which was also tops in the Central A. The senior was equally as important on defense, leading the Blue Ponies with 341 digs. Suek has earned all-conference honors three times. Middle hitter Signe Hillson also was named to the Central A first team this season. Hillson, who started for the Blue Ponies last year, had a breakout campaign in 2006. As expected, Hillson led the Blue Ponies and the Central A in blocks. Hillson dominated the middle all season for HHS, racking up 73 blocks. She was second on the team in total kills as well. Hillson also earned Academic All-State honors for 2006. Havre High placed two players on the Central A All-Conference Honorable Mention team. Juniors Katie Mariani and Steph Stremcha both earned all-conference honors. Mariani led the Blue Ponies in serve-receive at .875. The junior played extremely well in the back row for HHS in her first full season on the varsity. Stremcha had an outstanding year as well. She helped Havre High in the middle, and was an outstanding blocker for the Ponies. Stremcha also had a strong season in kills. To go along with their all-conference honors, both players earned Academic All- State. Other Havre leaders this season included junior setter Tricia Samson and sophomore setter Chelsea Harper. Samson led the Blue Ponies with 392 assists while Harper added 385 assists. Samson also paced the Ponies with a 96 percent serve percentage, and Harper topped the Ponies in service aces with 53. Both players also were named Academic All-State. Karla Hellegaard, Erika Briese, Larissa Hand, Carmen Neuens and Emily Ulgenes all garnered Academic All-State honors. To receive the honor, players must have a 3.5 grade point average or higher. The Blue Ponies finished tied for second place in the Central A this season, but missed out on the Class A state volleyball tournament. Havre lost two heartbreaking five-game matches to Belgrade at the Central A Divisional tournament earlier this month.
