Rivaled: Ponies spike Eagles in five

With only one game this week for the Havre High volleyball team, there was plenty of time to prepare for an important Northeastern A matchup against a long-time rival. When the Lewistown Golden Eagles line up on the other side of the court, there is certain to be an intense match ahead of you.

And that is exactly what happened Saturday against Lewistown, where the Blue Ponies ground out a 3-2 win over the Eagles in the Havre High Gymnasium, with the set scores being 25-22, 25-11, 18-25, 19-25 and 15-10, putting them in a good spot conference wise with a 6-3 overall record on the 2020 season.

Havre head coach Steph Huse was glad to see her team fight it out to come out on top against Lewistown.

"It was kind of a rollercoaster of a match," Huse said. "We started out pretty aggressive and on fire. Then, momentum, such as volleyball, shifted and kind of went the way of Lewistown until we were able to grab it back in the fifth set. I was just really proud of the girls for staying in the match mentally and emotionally throughout the entire match because it's hard when the momentum shifts when you're up and then it shifts back to the other team. The girls handled it very well, hung in there and made it through to the end."

But the game did not start out as intense. The Ponies would put on a show in the first two sets, pushing through the Eagles in a close first set to start out on top, then dominating the second set, with players like Yelena Miller, Talia Ralph and Maddie Columbus racking up kills, while others like Ellie Collins helped get the ball in prime position and Sydney Wilting keeping the volley alive for HHS.

There were a lot of great moments and displays of control from the Ponies in the first two sets, too. There were multiple runs put up in the second half to help propel Havre to a 2-0 lead, and Huse was happy to see things clicking early in the battle.

"I thought our ball control and service was excellent," Huse said. "We were able to run all of our hitting options. Anytime we're able to open up our middles and have them active alongside our outside and right sides, it makes a huge impact on our ability to win matches, so that was big. We were aggressive serving-wise. Alyssa Oliver put on a clinic when serving and had nine aces on the match, which is something we haven't had a girl do all season, which was really impressive."

But the next two sets would turn for the worse, as Lewistown started to respond more aggressively to the Ponies' first two sets. The Eagles turned the tables quickly, dominating through sets, setting up runs and cashing in on mistakes that Havre made, while the Blue Pony spikers tried to stay in the match. Alas, Lewistown would tie the match 2-2 and force set five.

That's when HHS locked in and kept up the fight, pushing forward to try and secure a win over their conference rival. As the Ponies trucked on, the Eagles worked to keep the pace with Havre, even bringing the score to 14-10, only trailing by four. But a serve went out of bounds on a Lewistown serve, which gave the Ponies the win.

There were plenty of standouts against the Eagles. Oliver put up nåine aces, Miller had 19 kills, Wilting racked up 27 digs, Collins had 46 assists and Miller led Havre with four blocks to solidify a strong win as the regular season is nearing its end.

Huse was happy to see the set five win happen in favor of her team.

"The good thing was that everybody was very emotionally calm and together," Huse said. "That's been a focus of ours all year. We really stayed together and supported one another. When you play a set to 15, it's really fast. There's not a lot of room for errors and luckily, we were able to control that, so when we're able to keep ourselves under control then that's what tipped us over the edge."

After the cancellation of the game against Browning, the Blue Ponies (6-3) will play the Malta M-Ettes Tuesday at 7 p.m. and then the Sidney Eagles at 4 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be played in the Havre High Gymnasium.

Havre def. Lewistown 3-2

25-22, 25-11, 18-25, 19-25, 15-10

HAV – Aces 16 (Alyssa Oliver 9, Sydney Wilting 3, Ellie Collins 1, Kennedy Hampton 1, Yelena Miller 1, Molly Huse 1); Kills 56 (Miller 19, Talia Ralph 14, Maddie Columbus 14, Avery Carlson 4, Quinn McDonald 2, Huse 2, Wilting 1); Digs 82 (Wilting 27, Samantha Lovenguth 11, Oliver 9, Collins 8, Hampton 8, Huse 6, Miller 5, Ralph 4, McDonald 2, Carlson 1, Columbus 1); Assists 48 (Collins 46); Blocks 9 (Miller 4, Huse 3, Ralph 1, Carlson 1).

LEW – not reported.