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Havre hosts Belgrade/Livingston on senior day at the HHS gymnasium
Havre High senior Carlene Rennick, right, and the Blue Pony volleyball team play their final home games of the season when they host Central A rivals Belgrade and Livingston Saturday afternoon.
This weekend is going to be an important one for the Havre High volleyball team, and it’s not just because the Blue Ponies are set to play their final home matches of the season.
HHS has a pair of key Central A conference matchups ahead of it Saturday at the HHS gymnasium, where the Ponies will square off against both Belgrade and Livingston on senior day.
Not only does Havre want to send its seniors out with a pair of victories, but the Ponies also have a golden opportunity to improve their seeding for the divisional tournament, which is less than two weeks away.
Havre will take on Livingston in the first of back-to-back games at 12:30 p.m. Then, the Ponies will go head-to-head with Central A power Belgrade at 3:30 p.m.
“It’s always sentimental having the last game at home,” HHS head coach Melanie Skoyen said. “You want to go out with a win and want to go out with success and to be able to do that for (our seniors) would be awesome.”
Havre (3-12, 2-3) comes into the match sitting at fourth place in the Central A standings, one game behind third-place Livingston (6-5, 2-2). The Rangers defeated the Ponies earlier in the season in four games when the teams met in Belgrade and if HHS is going to have any chance of finishing as the third-seeded team in the Central A, evening the season series with Livingston is a must.
“We have been talking all week about how we are right there for the third seed,” Skoyen said. “It doesn’t matter too much, but we would prefer to have the third seed to change things up from the past, and I would rather play one of those big teams right off the bat. It would be nice and it can definitely happen, we just have to make it happen this weekend.”
The Rangers feature a number of talented players and are led by Lindzi Printz, who is currently fourth the Central A in kills and digs with 126 and 229, respectively. Emily Cornell also plays a key role for the Rangers and leads the conference in total aces with 45, while also being third in the league in assists with 365. Sierra Higgs is another key contributor for Livingston and ranks in the Top 10 in the conference in both kills and blocks.
The Ponies will counter with Dani Wagner, who ranks highly in a number of different categories within the conference. She is currently fourth in kills with 138, third in aces with 41 and fourth in assists with 205.
Reggie Bernard is another versatile contributor for Havre and so far this season, she is second the Central A in blocks with 40 and is eighth in kills with 115. HHS senior Carlene Rennick is third in the conference in blocks with 36, while fellow senior Jordyn Warren seventh is digs with 173.
Belgrade (11-4, 4-1) will provide a much stiffer test for the Ponies, who were swept by the Panthers in their first meeting in Belgrade by the scores of 25-8, 25-12 and 25-14.
Havre will have its work cut out for it as the Panthers boast the conference leader in kills, digs and assists. Kylie McCree leads the Central A in kills with 228, while Olivia Kleinsasser leads in assists with 497 and Kyra Fisher leads in digs with 303.
Belgrade will also have plenty of motivation coming into tomorrow’s match, as they still have a chance to earn the top seed for divisionals and are currently tied atop the standings with Lewistown.
It will take a herculean effort for HHS to upset Belgrade, but with the emotional fuel of senior day on their side, anything is possible. And if the Ponies can do the unthinkable, what better way to send out a senior class, which includes both Rennick and Warren, than with an upset victory over a state title contender in their final match at the HHS gymnasium.
“I have coached both of them since my first year coaching junior high so I have coached Carlene and Jordyn since they were in seventh grade,” Skoyen said. “I am so proud of both of them. They are such strong women and quality players, they both just bring so much to the court. We are definitely going to miss them next year.”
The action will get started at 12:30 p.m., when the Ponies will take on Livingston. Then, Havre and Belgrade will square off at 3:30 p.m. The Ponies will then close out the regular season on Nov. 1 when they travel to Lewistown.
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