News you can use

Pony spikers win twice

Ponies get needed home victories over Conrad, Browning

After a tough loss on Thursday night, this past weekend was just what the struggling Havre High volleyball team needed to hopefully get back on track through the second half of the season.

The Central A Ponies played three games this weekend and went 2-1 after a Thursday loss to CMR in Great Falls.

But having a quick turnaround, the Ponies forgot about Thursday’s loss and focused up for a non-conference match against the Class B Conrad Cowgirls on Friday, and a conference rivalry match on Saturday against the Browning Indians. Both matches were at the Havre High gymnasium.

HHS defeated Conrad in five games by scores of 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 17-25, and 16-14. And in Havre’s second straight win, the Ponies defeated the Indians in three straight sets by scores of 25-21, 25-16, and 25-21. After the two wins the Ponies sit at 5-6 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

“This is the start of our winning streak,” Havre High head coach Melanie Skoyen said. “Practices need to continue to get tougher and tougher as the season continues because every week we play divisionals is a week closer. That is when we have to make sure we are peaking and at our absolute best.”

Skoyen often describes Browning as being a scrappy team, but after they played Havre on Saturday, Browning is also much improved.

The Indians remained competitive all night, pushing the Ponies to work and earn every single point. And while going point for point through the majority of the match, the Indians almost snuck away with a win over the Ponies in game one. After taking point one of the set, the Indians eventually went up 19-15 on a 6-2 run.

The Indians were surging and the Ponies were forced to call a timeout in an attempt to stop the momentum. And the short break mush have done the trick as Aubrea Worm earned a crushing kill for the Ponies and stopped the Indians’ run. HHS went onto win set one after a 9-2 run of their own, a run that included a handful of Browning errors, a Jacinta Finneman kill, and an ace by Tatiana Ralph.

“(During the timeout) I just told them to relax,” Skoyen said. “They were playing so tense and were afraid to make mistakes, and you can’t play volleyball like that. You have to always be aggressive, loose, and relaxed, and once they were able to do that, we were able to take the game back. Browning always works hard, they never give up, and they give it their all. They pushed us for every single point.”

Where the Indians really showed improvement was from their serving game. Every player who served for Browning was spot on with their power and placement, and if the Pony serve receive didn’t answer the call, the Indians could have maybe flipped the script on who won and who lost the crucial conference matchup.

Browning ended with four aces, but that was due to outstanding serve receive play by Havre. Ralph, Jordyn Warren, Worm and Lacey Waid did very well to limit the production by some very tough servers like Joni Murray.

“They served us hard, but our adjustment was good,” Skoyen said. “Our mentality coming in was that we knew we could come in and be competitive, and with no intimidation. Even though they were serving us so much harder than other teams, our serve receive was great and I think is that we weren’t intimidated. We need to make sure we are never intimidated by any team.”

With the great serve-receive, the Ponies also had a solid offensive outing against the Indians.

The Ponies had 23 kills, including seven by worm and five by Martha Stocker. But Dani Wagner also had 13 of the 16 total assists, while the Ponies found plenty of ways to transition right into their offensive sets from all areas of the floor. Havre’s six aces also helped keep the Indians on their heels, as the Ponies were able to come away with the win after three tight sets.

“I really like how we transitioned on offense,” Skoyen said. “It was the best I have seen from us all year. That was good that we are still improving, but we just need to learn to work together more, not play complacent, and not hesitate. And I am so glad that we ended (game three) the way Martha (Stocker) did. I was frustrated in that game and that helped. We can’t seem to build momentum when we play, and Browning is always so fired up to play us. We went point for point with them for so long, and we just needed to take control of the match.”

Stocker ended game three with an impressive kill after a long volley, giving the Ponies a great win on senior night.

“That was exciting,” Stocker said. “Dani (Wagner) was talking to me on that last play and she told me ‘this is the last point of your high school career in this gym, and this is your kill.’ She set it to me and that is how it ended. That was a really exciting way to win for all of us (seniors) and it brought us all together and we got celebrate and have fun.”

Stocker also finished with one block, while Waid had 11 of the Ponies’ 40 digs, followed by Wagner with seven. Wagner also had three aces, followed by Ralph with two aces of her own.

Facing the Cowgirls on Friday, it was the Ponies who had to play scrappy in the hopes of a win. The Cowgirls looked to be in control all match long, but the Ponies never gave up and earned the win in five sets.

Momentum was crucial, as the Ponies found opportunity to get it, but couldn’t keep it. Conrad went on several big runs all night long, including a 13-7 run to end, and win game four. But in game five the Ponies were finally able to lock in and get the 16-14 win. The set was tied at 10-10 before sloppy play both teams turned into a 14-12 Conrad lead. Stocker found open court on a push to bring the deficit to 14-13 and Waid did the same on the very next point to tie the set 14-14. HHS took a 15-14 lead on a Cowgirls’ hitting error, then captured the 16-14 win as Conrad hit the ball into the net.

It wasn’t the most exciting ending, but it was a much needed win for the Ponies.

“I am so glad for our confidence that we were able to play that way,” Skoyen said. “That was the best we played this season, and we were doing everything right. We didn’t do it on every point, and yes we still had mistakes and errors that we shouldn’t have, but the things we did well, it was exactly how we need to play all the time.”

Havre finished with 33 kills, 11 blocks, seven aces, 25 assists and an impressive 89 digs against the hard-hitting Cowgirls. Waid and Stocker both finished with seven kills each, while Finneman and Stocker each had four blocks. Breck Don had three aces, and Wagner had 20 digs and 13 assists.

The Ponies travel to Conrad this Saturday.

Havre def. Conrad

25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 17-25, 16-14

Havre — Kills: 33 (Lacey Waid 7, Martha Stocker 7). Blocks: 11 (Jacinta Finneman 4.5, Stocker 4.5). Aces: 7 (Breck Don 3). Digs: 89 (Dani Wagner 20). Assists: 25 (Dani Wagner 13).

Conrad — Kills: 42 (Emily Harwood 12). Blocks: 5 (Krista Judisch 2, Harwood 2). Aces: 12 (Hayley Orcutt 4). Digs: 123 (Krista Judisch 27). Assists: 42 (Hayley Orcutt 24). 

Havre def. Browning

25-21, 25-16, 25-21

Browning — Kills 27 (Whitney Bremner 7); assists 25 (Shelsey St. Goddard 17); aces 4 (Joni Murray 2); digs 27 (Hilary Omessoo 6, Melesa Flamand 6); blocks 0.

Havre — Kills 23 (Aubrea Worm 7, Martha Stocker 5); assists 16 (Dani Wagner 13); aces 6 (Dani Wagner 3); digs 40 (Lacey Waid 11, Dani Wagner 7); blocks 2 (Martha Stocker 1.5).

 

Reader Comments(0)