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Pony spikers on the road

Wins have been hard to come by for the Havre High volleyball team this season, but hopefully this weekend will change that.

After a couple of tournaments the last two weekends, two matches on the road seems like a relatively light weekend, but facing two very good Class A programs, there will be nothing easy about Saturday’s matchups.

Last weekend, the Central A Ponies played in Great Falls at the Electric City Classic, playing nine matches. Saturday, they will be in Lewistown where they will play two non-conference opponents. The Ponies will face Hardin and Laurel, two teams that are sure to challenge the Ponies every step of the way.

“We have always matched up well with both Hardin and Laurel and I am anticipating some very competitive matches this weekendm” HHS head coach Melanie Skoyen said. “The girls have been more motivated during the drills in practice, and I know they want to get better. We have so much potential and we just have to tap into it. We are working and staying disciplined at practice because we know that is where we are going to get better right now.”

Both Hardin and Laurel typically house solid hitters. But facing a good hitter hasn’t been the Ponies weakness thus far.

With Aubrea Worm, Martha Stocker, and Jacinta Finneman having the ability to block up front, that isn’t the biggest area of focus this weekend. All three blocked very well in their matches last weekend, and should be able to lead the team on Saturday. With them locking things down up front, the Ponies are focused on errors. Serving errors have really hurt the Ponies early on, and they have been the difference between wins and losses, as well and competitive matches and blowout losses.

Coach Skoyen knows the kind of work the Ponies have put in this week at practice, and know what kind of boost error-free volleyball will give her squad.

“That has been something we have focused on,” Skoyen said. “As well as limiting all of our unforced errors. But we are also always working on learning how to finish. We can’t let teams back in, once we have built up a lead, we need to finish right there. That is something that we struggled with last weekend, but I am confident we will do that better this weekend.”

If the Ponies can limit their errors and continue to do things well, such as their blocking up front, they should be able to improve from 1-2 and return home with one, and maybe even two more wins.

Saturday the Ponies will face Hardin and Laurel in Lewistown in non-conference play.

 

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