Blue Pony netters will be home when it matters most

There's just three weeks left until the Havre High volleyball team begins preparing for the 2019 season. And there's a little over a month until the Ponies play their first matches of the new year.

And yet, it's November that the Ponies will be most excited about.

That's because the Havre High gymnasium will be the site of the 2019 Eastern A Divisional Volleyball Tournament, and that means, Havre's quest to make it to the Class A state tournament will through its own backyard.

The Eastern A Divisional will be held in the Pony Corral Nov. 7-9, where four spots in the Class A state tourney, which will be held the following week in Bozeman, will be on the line.

And the Eastern A being in Havre isn't the only exciting change for the Ponies this coming season.

HHS should be a strong contender in a new conference, too. With Belgrade moving up to Class AA this fall, the Central A has been disbanded. All the remaining teams in the Central A will still be a part of the Eastern A Division, but Havre and Lewistown will move into the newly formed Northeast A Conference, starting this fall. That conference will be composed of the Ponies, Eagles, Sidney, Glendive and Miles City.

The new Southeast A, which makes up the rest of the Eastern A, will be composed of Billings Central, Livingston, Hardin, Laurel and Lockwood. The new Lockwood High School in Billings will, however, play a junior varsity-only schedule this season, which means, with Belgrade out, the Eastern A divisional tourney will be a nine-team field when it comes to Havre.

Of course, the Blue Ponies, of head coach Tamecia Jarvis, will be focused solely on the regular season and winning the Northeast title, and won't be looking too far beyond that.

Havre opens the season with matches at Laurel and Sidney Aug. 30-31. Havre's road schedule continues at Great Falls High Sept. 5, before the Ponies make their home debut Sept. 7 against Browning. Sept. 13-14, Havre plays in the Electric City Classic in Great Falls, followed by a home match with Sidney Sept. 21. Havre then travels to Browning then hosts Conrad to close out the month of September.

Havre opens the month of October by hosting CMR Oct. 3, then playing conference matches at Glendive and Miles City Oct. 4-5. Havre then travels to Conrad Oct. 10 before hosting Glendive Oct. 12. The Ponies also host Miles City Oct. 19. The Ponies close out October by traveling to Sidney Oct. 26, and they finish the regular season at home Oct. 1 against Lewistown.

The regular season however, will also be a big buildup to the divisional tournament. The Blue Ponies have a strong team, full of returning talent, and they'll certainly be ready to make a run at state, and they get to do it on their own home floor.

The HHS volleyball team opens its season Aug. 30-31 at the Eastern A Tip-off in Laurel. Havre hosts its annual Blue/White Game Aug. 24 at the HHS gymnasium.