Pony spikers crush Conrad

Pony spikers crush Conrad

Daniel Horton, Havre Daily News

Nearly a month into the season the Havre High volleyball team finally got its chance to compete at home.

And hosting the Class B Conrad Cowgirls on Saturday at the Havre High gymnasium, the Central A Blue Ponies earned the nonconference victory in three games by scores of 25-10, 25-17 and 25-21.

"Our community has only been able to hear that we have been losing in our recent matches," Havre High head coach Melanie Skoyen said. "But they haven't been able to see how hard we are playing and how close we are to winning. It's good to come out in our first home match and show everybody how scrappy we are and how we play with a lot of heart and don't give up."

With the win the Ponies' conference record still sits at 3-1, but their overall record improved to 4-5.

A big part of the Ponies success on Saturday came down to the serve, especially in game one.

While the Cowgirls missed a lot of serves and struggled with errors, the Ponies did the exact opposite. HHS served very tough utilizing placement and power to rack up not only 10 aces in game one, but a team total of 17 in the match.

Sammy Evans and Sadie Seidel led the Ponies with four aces apiece.

"Anytime you get an ace I think it builds so much momentum for your team" Skoyen said. "And takes so much away from the other team. That I think is what made the difference."

Errors were also crucial.

And the Ponies did a good job limiting those as well. They did have a couple serving errors as the served very aggressive, but they weren't at crucial moments and they didn't come into play. And on offense, the Ponies did a good job hitting hard and finding the court.

As the match progressed the Cowgirls found ways to compete more with the Ponies. After holding Conrad to just 10 points in the first game, the Cowgirls scored 17 in the second and even gave the Ponies a scare in the third game with 21 points.

Game three was tight throughout. The score was knotted up as early as 3-3, and the scoring continued to go back and forth to 19-19. But the Ponies eventually seized the momentum and were able to grab the win when Sarah Armstrong placed the ball over the net with finesse for game point.

But the Ponies also ran and tried some new things during game three.

Skoyen introduced a totally new lineup which she said caused some confusion. It wasn't something they ran in practice, but saw fit to run on Saturday. They also ran a lot of quick sets which they ran with a lot of success.

"This is the first time I have seen us run so many quick sets." Skoyen said. "But it was good to see that we weren't only running them, but completing them."

In he match the Ponies had 25 total assists and Jaclyn Evans led the squad with 23. HHS had zero blocks, but racked up 28 kills. Seidel led with eight, and Sammy Evans fallowed with seven of her own. Seidel also led the Ponies with eight of the teams 28 digs. Christina Mack had six digs.

Seidel and Sammy Evans continually lead the Ponies in several stats. And their play is crucial to the Ponies success this year.

Nearly a month into the season the Havre High volleyball team finally got its chance to compete at home.

And hosting the Class B Conrad Cowgirls on Saturday at the Havre High gymnasium, the Central A Blue Ponies earned the nonconference victory in three games by scores of 25-10, 25-17 and 25-21.

"Our community has only been able to hear that we have been losing in our recent matches," Havre High head coach Melanie Skoyen said. "But they haven't been able to see how hard we are playing and how close we are to winning. It's good to come out in our first home match and show everybody how scrappy we are and how we play with a lot of heart and don't give up."

With the win the Ponies' conference record still sits at 3-1, but their overall record improved to 4-5.

A big part of the Ponies success on Saturday came down to the serve, especially in game one.

While the Cowgirls missed a lot of serves and struggled with errors, the Ponies did the exact opposite. HHS served very tough utilizing placement and power to rack up not only 10 aces in game one, but a team total of 17 in the match.

Sammy Evans and Sadie Seidel led the Ponies with four aces apiece.

"Anytime you get an ace I think it builds so much momentum for your team" Skoyen said. "And takes so much away from the other team. That I think is what made the difference."

Errors were also crucial.

And the Ponies did a good job limiting those as well. They did have a couple serving errors as the served very aggressive, but they weren't at crucial moments and they didn't come into play. And on offense, the Ponies did a good job hitting hard and finding the court.

As the match progressed the Cowgirls found ways to compete more with the Ponies. After holding Conrad to just 10 points in the first game, the Cowgirls scored 17 in the second and even gave the Ponies a scare in the third game with 21 points.

Game three was tight throughout. The score was knotted up as early as 3-3, and the scoring continued to go back and forth to 19-19. But the Ponies eventually seized the momentum and were able to grab the win when Sarah Armstrong placed the ball over the net with finesse for game point.

But the Ponies also ran and tried some new things during game three.

Skoyen introduced a totally new lineup which she said caused some confusion. It wasn't something they ran in practice, but saw fit to run on Saturday. They also ran a lot of quick sets which they ran with a lot of success.

"This is the first time I have seen us run so many quick sets." Skoyen said. "But it was good to see that we weren't only running them, but completing them."

In he match the Ponies had 25 total assists and Jaclyn Evans led the squad with 23. HHS had zero blocks, but racked up 28 kills. Seidel led with eight, and Sammy Evans fallowed with seven of her own. Seidel also led the Ponies with eight of the teams 28 digs. Christina Mack had six digs.

Seidel and Sammy Evans continually lead the Ponies in several stats. And their play is crucial to the Ponies success this year.