IN FIVE: Ponies spike Red Devils

When the Havre High volleyball team played in Glendive last weekend, there wasn't much for the Blue Ponies to be thrilled about. That all changed however, just a week later.

Saturday afternoon, in front of a raucous home crowd, the Blue Ponies avenged their only Northeast A loss of the season when they beat the Glendive Red Devils in a five-set thriller inside the HHS gymnasium.

Havre fought off elimination all day long, and roared back for a 17-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 16-14 conference victory.

"This was so dang exciting," HHS senior Katelyn Maloughney said. "It was an exciting match. It was so much fun."

Things got very exciting not long after Havre dropped the opening set to the Red Devils. The Ponies used an 8-0 run midway through the second set to gain their first lead of the day, and, on a thunderous kill from Jessa Chvilicek, they were able to even the match at 1-1. But the back-and-forth second set was just a prelude of things to come.

Havre led Glendive 15-13 in the third set, and appeared poised to take the lead in the match, but the Red Devils stormed back in front, only to see Havre rattle off a 5-0 run, and kill two set points off to even the game at 24-24. A Sam Oliver ace helped the comeback, but the savvy Red Devils got a side-out and an ace to end what was a tense set, and lead 2-1.

In the fourth, with everything on the line, Havre would have to fight off the Red Devils again. Glendive led 14-10 midway through the set, but back-to-back kills by Chvilicek and Cassidy Acor evened things at 15-15. From there, the two teams traded leads on six different occasions, but when Maloughney stepped up and made a huge kill up the right side, and a solo block at 23-19, Havre was able to seize the momentum and even the match at 2-2.

Glendive stole the momentum right back however, and quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the decisive fifth set. Then, however, Pony senior Peyton Brown stepped up to the service line, and HHS reeled off seven straight points, including an ace from Brown. Glendive didn't go away, though, and the intense decider continued, including moments where Glendive nosed in front 12-11 and 14-12. That lead, however, would be as close as Havre would let Glendive get.

Chivilcek got a kill to pull Havre to within one, then Quinn McDonald blasted a ball cross court to tie things up at 14-14. With the Pony faithful going insane, Acor drilled a ball to give Havre a 15-14 lead and, on match point, the Devils couldn't keep a long rally going, as Havre erupted in joy.

"It felt really good to go in and help the team in those moments," Maloughney said of her cruical plays down the stretch. "And the fact that we won, it makes it feel 10 times better. It just feels really good."

Maloughney was one of many spark plugs for the Ponies, finishing with 17 digs and two aces. Oliver had a huge match as well, totaling 16 kills and 18 digs, while Chvilicek finished with 15 kills and Acor had 10. Brown tallied 32 assists, two aces and a block, as well, as Havre picked up a key conference win, which keeps the Ponies tied atop the Northeast A standings.

Havre will return to action this Saturday when the Ponies host another Northeast A foe, the Miles City Cowgirls.

Havre def. Glendive

17-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 16-14

Havre - Aces 8 (Brown 2, Wilting 2, Maloughney 2), Kills 48 (Oliver 16, Chvilicek 15, Acor 10), Assists 33 (Brown 32), Blocks (Chvilicek 1, Brown 1), Digs 80 (Oliver 18, Maloughney 17, Wilting 15).

Glendive - Aces 8 (Torres 2), Kills 58 (Torres 20), Assist 58 (Brown 33), Blocks 7 (Murphy 3), Digs 110 (Clapp 33).