By Tiffany L. Rehbein
The Havre Blue Pony volleyball team defeated the Park High Rangers in five games on Friday.
The win landed the Ponies (8-2, 16-4) a first-place finish in the North Subdivision of the Central A.
It is the fourth-straight year that the Blue Ponies, the back-to-back defending State Class A champions, have finished first entering the divisional tournament.
With its final conference match completed, Havre went on to capture the title at the Windy City Classic on Saturday in a final tune-up before the Central A divisional tournament that will be held March 2-4 at Dillon.
Havre finished pool play 2-2 and entered the single elimination tournament in the No. 3 seed at the Classic.
The Blue Ponies opened the tournament with a 15-9, 16-14 win over Class AA Billings West.
During the second game of the match, the Blue Ponies overcame a 14-8 deficit en route to the win.
In the semifinal match, the Ponies defeated the Fergus County Golden Eagles 15-9, 15-13 to advance to the championship round.
Again, the Ponies overcame a 13-8 to win the match.
Havre had lost a 15-8 match to Fergus during pool play earlier in the day.
The Blue Ponies defeated Class AA Billings Senior, 3-15, 15-6, 15-1 for the title.
With :13 remaining during pool play, the Blue Ponies notched a 15-11 win over Senior, who entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed from Havre's pool.
Teri Sherrill led the Ponies with three aces during the championship match against Senior. The team had eight total aces.
Wagner tallied seven assists and Kirsten Kuka had five for the Ponies.
Havre notched 19 kills in the win, led by Erin Patera with seven and Jayla McPherson with four.
McPherson also notched 1.5 blocks for Havre.
Tiffany Shrauger led the Ponies with six digs, while Patera had five in the match. The team notched 25 total.
The Blue Ponies, who had struggled with serving throughout the day, redeemed themselves and served 95 percent during the championship match.
Havre will meet the Anaconda Copperheads at 2 p.m. at the divisional tournament on Thursday.
Havre defeated Anaconda at the Browning Triangular earlier this month.
