By Tiffany L. Rehbein
The Browning gym floor was a little cleaner after the Havre Blue Pony volleyball team walked away with a conference action sweep during the weekend.
Havre defeated the Anaconda Copperheads 15-2, 15-8, 7-15, 15-10 in conference action to kickoff play on Friday.
Erin Patera led the Ponies with 16 kills and six aces in the match. Amy Ranes added 12 kills and one block for Havre.
Tiffany Shrauger led the Ponies with 18 digs and one block, while Teri Sherrill chipped in 11 digs.
Lisa Wagner had 17 assists, while Kirsten Kuka added 15. Jana McPherson also tallied a block in the win.
The third-game loss to Anaconda was the only loss the Ponies suffered throughout the weekend.
"We played 10 games and won nine of them," Havre head coach Bill Huebsch said. "In the one game we lost against Anaconda, we tried a couple of different people who really played well."
Havre went on to defeat the Butte Central Maroons 15-5, 15-11, 17-15 on Saturday morning. They defeated Browning 15-4, 15-11, 15-4 to close out the Central A action.
"We got three conference wins that we needed," Huebsch said. "All of the teams that we play, including ourselves, are getting better. These teams were much improved over when we saw them at the Extravaganza (at Dillon, Dec. 18)."
Patera had 15 kills, two blocks, 15 digs, and three aces against Butte Central.
Ranes added 12 kills and two blocks, while McPherson had 15 of the team's 81 digs.
Shrauger smoked in three aces, while Wagner tallied 26 assists and Kuka had 11 in the contest.
In the third game against the Maroons, the Ponies were down 13-8 and battled back to capture the 17-15 victory.
Terra Olson stepped off the bench for Havre against Browning and led the team with six digs in the contest.
"Olson comes in and really passed well," Huebsch said. "I think she played really well."
LaShae Michels and Jeri Matter also stepped into action in the front row for Havre, who improved to 5-2 in conference play and 12-4 overall.
Patera had eight kills and three aces, while Ranes had seven kills and one block against Browning.
Shrauger dropped in four aces in the contest.
Wagner, who leads the Central A in serving percentage, served out the first game against Browning, and went on to end game two with an ace against the Indians.
However, Wagner, who had missed just four serves coming into the weekend, netted a serve in the Browning match to break her serving streak.
The Ponies have three conference matches remaining against Lewistown, who leads the North Subdivision, Park, who was second but was pushed to third with the Ponies' wins, and Browning.
"Hopefully, this will start building some momentum for us going into divisional," Huebsch said.
In other action at Browning, Anaconda collected its first win of the season after defeating Browning 15-12, 9-15, 14-16, 15-5, 15-8. The Copperheads are now 1-4 in the Central A and 1-9 overall.
Butte Central also defeated Browning 15-7, 14-16, 15-11, 15-9. They are 2-6, 4-10 on the season.
Browning is 0-7 in the conference and 0-14 overall.
at Browning
Havre def. Anaconda 15-2, 15-8, 7-15, 15-10
Havre -- Aces 16 (Erin Patera 6); Kills 40 (Patera 16); Digs 48 (Tiffany Shrauger 18); Blocks 3 (three win one each); Assists 40 (Lisa Wagner 17).
Anaconda -- Aces 7 (K. Phillip 3); Kills 37 (M. Venturelli 11); Digs 28 (Venturelli 10); Blocks 4 (Phillip 2); Assists 25 (B. Barkell 25).
Anaconda def. Browning, 15-12, 9-15, 14-16, 15-5, 15-8
Browning -- Kills 31 (Jen Brown 14, Jodi McLoughlin, Cinda Edwards 6); Blocks 3 (Three with one each); Assists 24 (Misty Louis 20); Digs 80 (Edwards 15, Brown 13, Dale Rae Salois 13); Aces 8 (McLoughlin 3).
Anaconda -- No stats available.
Butte Central def. Browning 15-7, 14-16, 15-11, 15-9
Butte Central -- Kills 40 (Ciana Roeber 14); Assists 29 (JJ Hogart 29); Blocks 6 (Heidi McGree, Liz Henrich 2); Digs 62 (Katie McGree 12, Sarah Thatcher 12).
Browning -- Kills 41 (Cinda Edwards 20, Jodi McLoughlin 9); Blocks 2 (Jen Brown 2); Assists 37 (Misty Louis 27); Digs 29 (Brown 6, Dale Salois 5); Aces 9 (Brown 7).
Havre def. Butte Central 15-5, 15-11, 17-15
Havre -- Kills 44 (Erin Patera 15, Amy Ranes 12); Blocks 6 (Patera, Ranes 2); Assists 41 (Lisa Wagner 26, Kirsten Kuka 11); Digs 81 (Patera 15, Jana McPherson 14); Aces 7 (Patera, Tiffany Shrauger 3).
Butte Central -- Kills 37 (Ciana Roeber 9, Liz Henrich, Heidi McGree 8); Assists 30 (JJ Hogart 29); Blocks 3 (Three with one each); Digs 79 (Katie McGree 15, Hogart 14).
Havre def. Browning 15-4, 15-11, 15-4
Havre -- Kills 27 (Erin Patera 8, Amy Ranes 7); Blocks 1 (Ranes); Assists 18 (Kirsten Kuka 9, Lisa Wagner 7); Digs 21 (Terra Olson 6); Aces 12 (Tiffany Shrauger 4, Patera 3).
Browning -- Kills 16 (Jen Brown 5, Jodi McLoughlin 4); Blocks 1 (McLoughlin); Assists 15 (Misty Louis 14); Digs 16 (Cinda Edwards 7); Aces 2 (Jacy Brown, Cinda Evans).
