Blue Pony spikers head back on the road

After two days of very tough Class AA competition last weekend, the Havre High volleyball team is ready to face a couple of Class A opponents this weekend.

Saturday in Lewistown, the Central A Blue Ponies (3-2) will face two Class A programs out of the East. First the Ponies will face the Laurel Locomotives, and to follow, the Ponies will then face the Hardin Bulldogs in two non-conference matches.

"I know I am excited," Havre High head coach Melanie Skoyen said. "And I am hoping the girls are competitive enough to want this so bad after how last weekend played out. I hope they just go out there wanting to get that confidence back and wanting to get a win."

Both the Locomotives and Bulldogs are somewhat of a mystery to the Ponies this season.

HHS faced both squads a year ago, but nothing stood out to Skoyen. They are both solid Class A squads, but shouldn't have anything or anybody that should pose as a huge threat.

And preparations for both matches revolve around the same game plan. The Blue Ponies want to take full advantage of facing two teams in one day. And using both opponents, the Ponies are going to heavily focus on taking advantage of free balls and hopefully start to run set plays. The Ponies have yet to really focus on either in competition this season.

"We are doing it so much more in practice and I am confident enough to start working on it in games," Skoyen said. "I think this weekend will be perfect to try."

The Ponies will hopefully find success with the newly added emphasis on offense. But the return of Juletta Don will also be a huge Pony boost.

Don has been out with a knee injury, but has returned to practice this week with limited activity. Skoyen said Don has been hitting and blocking with no pain, and will hopefully play this weekend in Lewistown, reclaiming her spot in the middle.

With Don back in the middle the Ponies lineup will see change once again. Sammy Evans has performed very well in the middle, but will move back to her original position as an outside hitter, where she really makes an impact.

And with how well Lexi Olson performed with the varsity over the weekend, she too will play on the outside. Olson really caught Skoyen's attention while in Great Falls and for now, will remain with the varsity and will play on the right side.

"She was so aggressive," Skoyen said. "Always hitting the floor when she was in and had a good attitude while playing. I know the team feeds off of that, so I liked having her on the court."

With a healing lineup and new game plan, the Ponies are confident they can compete.

Using free balls to run plays will take everybody being on the same page. And with how much HHS has done this in practice Skoyen is hoping this weekend will help them take it another step further. Running plays will hopefully come as second nature, and Skoyen wants the Ponies to reach that level where they don't even have to think about it.

"I am very confident that we will get at least one win this weekend," Skoyen said. "Our players are good to go, we have practiced enough for all situations and I am confident this will work."

On Saturday the Ponies will travel to Lewistown where they will face both Laurel and Hardin.