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Blue Ponies look to spike the Cowgirls

For the Havre High volleyball team, the start to the season has been a bit of a whirlwind, but Saturday, the schedule becomes more regular, beginning with a non-conference match in Conrad.

Throughout the first month of the season, the Blue Ponies have played just two regulation matches, against Belgrade and Livingston. Outside of those, every match has been part of a tournament, meaning each match is just a set or two. Yet, starting with the Cowgirls Saturday at 5 p.m., HHS won't play into another tournament until divisionals.

"I think they (tournaments) are good because it gives us a chance to see some different teams and learn our strengths and weaknesses," HHS head coach Tamecia Jarvis said "But it will also be good to know we can focus on just one match and get really good effort. One thing that I am looking for right now is leadership. We have five seniors and they really to step up and be leaders right now. So hopefully that is something that we will see."

With Central A conference play starting next week, the Ponies are focused on winning their first regulation match of 2017 and also fine tuning some things before the final conference matches of the season.

"One thing that I would like to see is our middles being more active again like they were at the start of the season," Jarvis said. "The other thing is that I want to see us playing defense like we were, so that's another thing that we need to improve."

While the Ponies have had success against Conrad in the past, Jarvis said it's a new season and she is not taking anything for granted.

"I don't really know much about them," Jarvis said. "It's a new year, so you never know what anyone has. We are just focused on ourselves and what we can do to get better."

As Jarvis said, the five seniors are all going to play an important role on the team going forward. Camryn Huston is one of those seniors and she currently ranks among the top 10 in both blocks and kills. She has 15.5 blocks, which is good enough for third in the conference and 72 kills, which ranks fifth. Fellow senior Logan Huebsch has been another strong contributor for the Ponies, as she comes in fifth in aces with 21.

Other players who will also be counted on heavily will be Paige Nelson, who has the best serve percentage in the Central A, along with Katie and Alex Donaldson, who are both solid defensive players. Sam Oliver is another important part of the defense, she is also integral for the offense and ranks fourth in the conference in assists with 172.

"Right now I am looking for our defense to step it up a little bit," Jarvis said. "I thought we were playing better defense at the start of the season, so I want us to get back to that."

Havre and Conrad will play Saturday in Conrad at approximately 5 p.m.

 

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