Pony spikers battle their way past Browning

The Havre High volleyball team was expected to beat Browning Thursday night and ultimately, the Blue Ponies got the win, it just didn't come as easily as anticipated.

The Ponies roared out of the gates and took the first set off the Indians 25-14, before Browning fought back to tie things in up, with a 25-14 win in the second. Yet, Havre responded with a 10-0 run in the third set and never looked back, winning the match in four by the scores of 25-14, 14-25, 25-10 and 25-9.

“It felt good,” HHS head coach Tamecia Jarvis said. “We played really great. In that second set, the one that we dropped, those were all our mistakes. But in the third and fourth sets, they really picked it up and played great. That’s all I can say. They had fun, they were fun to watch and fun to coach.”

In the first set, Havre built an early lead behind the strong play of Cassidy Acor and Jessa Chvilicek. Acor put down a kill that gave HHS an early 3-0 advantage, before a kill later by Chvilicek made it 12-5. As the first set came to a close, it was Devyn Huebsch, the daughter of Browning head coach Bill Huebsch, who scored the set point, giving Havre the 25-14 win and 1-0 advantage.

However, in the second set, it was Browning that set the pace. The Indians scored the first six points of the set, only to see Havre battle back to tie things up at 10-10. Yet, a 6-0 run by the Indians put them back in control and eventually, they won the set 25-14, tying things up in the match at 1-1.

But in the third set, Havre opened with a big run of its own, as Acor notched a couple of quick kills, sparking a 12-1 run by the Ponies to open the set. From there, Browning struggled to come back and surrendered the game to the Havre 25-10.

“Sam (Oliver) served like six times in a row,” Jarvis said, “so that kind of helped and got us going, and we took off from there. We didn’t make mistakes. They were making mistakes and we were just playing our game.”

In the fourth, aces from Sam Oliver and Sydney Wilting, as well as an authoritative kill from Chvilicek made it 7-3 Havre. That forced Browning to take a timeout, but it did little to stall Havre's momentum. Oliver added a couple of blocks in the middle of the set to push the Havre lead even further, before HHS closed things out 25-9.

Statistically, the Ponies dominated the match in every category, but especially when it came to kills. Havre managed 38 kills in four sets, while the Indians ended up with just nine. Cassidy Acor led the way with a match-high 10 kills; Chvilicek contributed with eight kills and four blocks and Kadyn Acor also notched six kills of her own.

“Our middles played awesome,” Jarvis said. “They really stepped up. It’s nice to see the ball killed with a little force and they were able to do that tonight.”

Oliver also had a solid night for the Ponies, leading the way with a match-high 26 assists, along with eight digs and two blocks. Sydney Wilting also added eight digs, Katelyn Maloughney had four aces and Peyton Brown contributed with two aces and three assists.

Havre is now 5-5 on the season and still 1-1 in the Central A conference. The Ponies will wrap up homecoming weekend Saturday night against Cut Bank. The match will begin at approximately 5 p.m.

Havre def. Browning

25-14, 14-25, 25-10, 25-9

Havre - Aces 9 (Katelyn Maloughney 4, Peyton Brown 2); Kills 38 (Cassidy Acor 10, Jessa Chvilicek 8, Kadyn Acor 6); Assists 32 (Sam Oliver 26, Peyton Brown 3); Blocks 7 (Chvilicek 4, Oliver 2); Digs 38 (Sydney Wilting 8, Oliver 8).