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Blue Ponies spike AA Bison

Going into Thursday night's match against the Great Falls Bison, the Havre High volleyball team was hoping to maybe push the match to four or five games. But in one of the Blue Ponies better matches of the season, they took it one step further.

Thursday at the Havre High gymnasium, the Central A Ponies defeated the Class AA Bison in four games.

The Ponies won game one 25-17, but the Bison answered back with a 25-16 win in game two. And in games three and four, the Ponies grabbed two more wins by scores of 25-17 and 25-21, respectively.

"I love when we play this well in front of our fans," Havre High head coach Melanie Skoyen said. "I know it gets the girls fired up. It was so good to finally beat a Class AA school in a match that counts. This win was huge for us."

Paighton Gilman also returned to the Pony lineup on Thursday, giving the squad another solid hitter and blocker. But most importantly, the return of Gilman gave the Ponies a leader.

Gilman had a solid game in her debut after an ankle sprain. She didn't burst onto the scene and lead the Ponies in all stats, but she did help the squad in other ways.

"Everybody stepped up tonight," Skoyen said. "And even if Paighton (Gilman) isn't getting the set, there is just a different feeling when she is on the floor. She is always so positive and an awesome leader. It's so nice to have her back on the court."

Gilman normally plays in the middle, but played the majority of the time on the right side on Thursday. She played games one, three and four on the right, and played well. But Skoyen wanted to see just where she was at in her recovery, and chose to play Gilman in the middle for game two. Gilman was hitting very well from the right side, and because she normally hits much better from the middle, Skoyen wanted to see how she would perform in her normal position.

But Gilman isn't quite 100 percent. And with her playing in the middle, the Bison were able to take advantage, finding the holes in the Pony block.

"(Gilman) just isn't fast enough yet," Skoyen said. "She hasn't practiced with us for a very long time and she wasn't quick enough to pose the block so we had a lot of holes. Our defense was working so hard, but not having a block that made it hard for them to judge where they need to be.

"I wasn't disappointed with that loss," Skoyen added. "It was something I wanted to try and I wanted to see Paighton (Gilman) in the middle. We just have to work on getting her back to volleyball shape."

In the three games the Ponies did win, consistency on offense and exceptional defense was the key. The hitters were hitting hard and the setters were setting. And the offense was also running a lot of quick plays. And though they didn't have a high success rate, it was still the perfect match to try, and should prove to be beneficial in the future.

HHS had 38 total kills, and Sarah Armstrong and Sadie Seidel led the Ponies with nine apiece. There were also 32 total assists with Jaclyn Evans accounting for 31 of the.

Defensively, the Ponies may have had their best match of the season. They played very scrappy and aggressive defense against the Bison. And in a lot of situations, it was the Pony defense keeping the team alive and keeping their lead safe.

HHS had three blocks, but totaled 65 digs as a team. Seidel led the Ponies once again with 16, but Christina Mack followed with 14, coming up with very key digs for the Ponies.

"Tonight was just one of those nights where we never gave up," Skoyen said. "There were even times where I thought it would be a ball that was going to hit the floor and Jaclyn (Evans) or Sadie Seidel would come out of the woodwork and get it up and even run a good play off of it.

"(Mack) was getting remarkable digs," Skoyen added. "I could just tell that she was focused the entire match, she wanted to play, she wanted to win and she wasn't going to give up."

Earlier in the year the Bison defeated the Ponies at the Electric City Classic in Great Falls. But the Ponies have improved steadily all season, and seem to be turning their losing streak around with their second straight win.

"This was an amazing win," Sammy Evans said. "It helped us out so much (with team momentum), and I am so excited to play Butte Central now, I hope we beat them."

With the win the Ponies remain at 3-1 in conference play, but improved to 5-5 overall.

HHS continues their three-match home stand on Saturday when they take on the conference rival Butte Central Maroons. The Ponies and Maroons will get underway at 1:30 p.m. at the Havre High gymnasium.

 

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