Thriller in the Corral: Blue Pony spikers storm back to beat Livingston in five

Outside of a loss to Great Falls High, the Havre High volleyball team hasn't been tested often over the last month, with sweeps in seven of its last eight matches.

Yet Thursday night, inside the HHS gymnasium, the Blue Ponies got a stern test from Livingston, which took the Ponies to five sets in a Central A conference matchup, before Havre ultimately prevailed, winning by the scores of 25-22, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21 and 15-7. The victory was the eighth in nine matches for HHS, which is now 12-7 on the season and 3-1 within the Central A.

"We had perseverance, which is always great," HHS head coach Tamecia Jarvis said of her players after the five-set victory. "We haven't had competition like that for a while, so I think it was kind of a wake-up call to know that we need to work a little harder in practice and get into our games a little quicker."

Havre has made a habit out of starting fast during its win streak, but Thursday the Rangers had other ideas. Livingston scored three of the first four points in the match and built a 6-3 lead early in the opening set. HHS battled back and grabbed a 9-8 lead after a kill by Jessa Chvilicek, but the Rangers would jump ahead again and went up by as many as four at 22-18.

Facing a 1-0 deficit and trailing by four, the Ponies went to work and got a spark from a Sam Oliver kill. A block a few plays later by Cassidy Acor tied the match and after scoring seven of the last eight points, HHS took game one 25-22.

In the second set, though, the Rangers again built an early lead and this time pushed their advantage to seven points at 20-13. Havre answered with a 9-2 run and tied the game up on a kill by Acor, but the Ponies couldn't complete the comeback and dropped the set 25-23. The story was similar in the third set, as Havre fell behind and rallied but got down by as many as six points and eventually dropped the set 26-24.

"I think being down like that shocked us a little bit," Jarvis said. "And I think that got our emotions down and that's a huge key for us, being emotional and playing with that intensity. We didn't have that early in the match."

Trailing 2-1, Havre started to turn things around in the fourth. The Ponies scored the first few points in the set and didn't trail after that. Livingston closed strong but still dropped the game 25-21, setting the stage for a fifth and deciding set.

With the match on the line and the Rangers seemingly running on fumes, Havre quickly seized the lead, going up 4-2 and quickly expanding that lead to 8-4. The Ponies then scored seven of the next 10 points to win the set 15-7 and the match 3-2.

When it was all said and done, the Ponies managed 47 kills in the win, with 16 coming from Cassidy Acor. Chvilicek also had a stellar outing for the Ponies, notching 15 kills and four blocks. Kadyn Acor also contributed with six kills and a pair of blocks.

"We started off too timid hitting the ball," Jarvis said. "Then we started to be smarter about where we hit the ball and started using angles, instead of just hitting right into the block."

While the Acor sisters and Chvilicek dominated up front for Havre, Oliver was equally good on the back end, posting four aces, 36 assists and 11 digs in the win. Caitlyn Terry also had a solid night with three aces and a team-high 18 digs. Another strong contribution came from Sydney Wilting, who had three aces and 10 digs.

The Ponies will be off this weekend and will close out the regular season next week with a road match against Lewistown next Friday, followed by their home finale against Belgrade next Saturday.

Havre def. Livingston

25-22, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-7

Havre - Aces 13 (Sam Oliver 4, Caitlyn Terry 3, Sydney Wilting 3); Kills 47 (Cassidy Acor 16, Jessa Chvilicek 15, Kadyn Acor 6); Assists 38 (Oliver 36); Blocks 13 (Chvilicek 4, Quinn McDonald 3); Digs 68 (Terry 18, Oliver 11, Wilting 10).