Blue Pony volleyball finishes fourth in Bloctober Fest

With its conference schedule in the past, the Havre High volleyball team competed in the Blocktober Fest tournament this past weekend in Butte. Over the course of two days, over 20 teams battled it out for the tournament title. Even though the Blue Ponies played 12 matches over the course of Friday and Saturday, they finished fourth in the tournament.

"I was pleased with how the girls played," HHS head coach Stephanie Huse said. "It was a great experience for the girls to be facing some good competition to really push us, to show us the things that we need to work on to get better."

The Ponies played through a gauntlet Friday where they played eight games against eight different teams in pool play. Each game was one set played to 30 points. Out of the eight teams they played Friday, the Ponies had not played seven of them this season. Despite this, the Ponies went 7-1 to qualify for the top bracket.

The Ponies started the tournament with a 30-28 win over Jefferson Friday morning. Havre then defeated Florence, 30-20, and Butte Central, 30-18. A 30-8 win over Whitefish and a 30-18 win over Ronan pushed the Ponies to a 5-0 start on the day.

Later on in the day, Havre played Billings Central who Havre played in the tip-off tournament in Sidney back in August. Just like in August, Billings Central got the better of the Ponies with a 30-19 win over Havre.

"Billings Central is a very good volleyball team. They are fast-paced, high energy and that's not something that we normally see within our own conference," Huse said. "Making that adjustment to how fast they run their offense and the energy that they bring, it's definitely something that we will be focusing on and then trying to get better as we head into divisionals."

Later Friday, the Ponies were able to bounce back to win their last two matches of the day. First they defeated East Helena, 30-15, before ending the day with a 30-21 win over Stevensville. While the Ponies were tired at the end of the long day, Huse was proud of her team for ending the day with a pair of wins.

"We were definitely a little depleted energy-wise. Mentally we were a little bit lower than if we were fresh starting a match," Huse said. "Our girls did a good job of really just staying focused and just really getting through that final match."

Through the course of Friday, Kyanna Jarvis led the Ponies with 24 total kills. Maddie Columbus also had a strong day with 19 total kills and six total blocks. Molly Huse also played well with 78 assists, 21 digs and five service aces on Friday.

With the 7-1 record, Havre advanced to the winner's bracket Saturday. The matches in the bracket were three-set matches played to 25 points. Havre's opening opponent in the bracket was conference foe Glendive. The Ponies had already defeated Glendive twice this season and Saturday was no different as Havre won the match by winning the sets, 25-10 and 25-15. Yelena Miller led the way for the Ponies with six kills and two blocks against Glendive.

Havre then played Jefferson again but this time the Ponies could not pull out the win as they lost their sets by scores of 15-25 and 21-25. Havre was able to bounce back in its next match against Polson as the Ponies won 2-1 by scores of 25-22, 21-25 and 15-10.

With the win over Polson, the Ponies advanced to the consolation match Saturday against Laurel. However, Havre ended the weekend with a 2-0 loss by scores of 7-25 and 21-25. With the loss, the Ponies finished fourth in the tournament. As the match was held at the end of the long weekend, Stephanie Huse did not believe her team had the energy to battle a strong opponent like Laurel.

"Laurel is very athletic. They have a lot of strong girls," Huse said. "I don't think they did anything necessarily that we can't handle. It's just the amount of energy that we didn't have in order to respond to what they were bringing us."

The Ponies now only have three more matches before the divisional tournament in early November. Even though the results from Blocktober Fest will not go toward the team's overall standings, Huse believes the matches in the winner's bracket will help her team improve just in time for the postseason.

"Jefferson has an outside hitter that is probably one of the top hitters that we've seen, so that experience of going up against an athlete like that will be beneficial for us," Huse said. "I thought (Havre) did a good job of turning around and digging in and trying to fight against Polson and by the time we got to that last one, I think we were pretty well spent and just didn't have enough fight. I think it just reflects what bracket play is like and what we need to do heading into divisionals against top teams within our conference and statewide."

The HHS volleyball team will next play Thursday on the road at Shelby.

Pool Play

HAV - Aces 22 (Jade Wendland 6, Molly Huse 5, Lizzi Haney 5); Kills 93 (Kyanna Jarvis 24, Maddie Columbus 19, Yelena Miller 18); Assists 87 (Huse 78); Blocks 14 (Columbus 6, Miller 5); Digs 175 (Alyssa Oliver 66, Avery Carlson 33, Huse 21, Wendland 20).

Havre def. Glendive

25-10, 25-15

HAV - Aces 8 (Alyssa Oliver 2, Lizzi Haney 2, Jade Wendland 2, Molly Huse 2); Kills 24 (Yelena Miller 6, Maddie Columbus 6, Avery Carlson 5); Assists 21 (Huse 21); Blocks 5 (Miller 2); Digs 37 (Oliver 16, Huse 10).

Jefferson def. Havre

15-25, 21-25

HAV - Aces 0; Kills 17 (Maddie Columbus 7, Yelena Miller 3, Jade Wendland 3); Assists 13 (Molly Huse 13); Blocks 4 (Miller 2, Columbus 2); Digs 55 (Alyssa Oliver 19).

Havre def. Polson

25-22, 21-25, 15-10

HAV - Aces 4 (Alyssa Oliver 2, Jade Wendland 1, Molly Huse 1); Kills 24 (Yelena Miller 8, Avery Carlson 6); Assists 21 (Huse 21); Blocks 2 (Kyanna Jarvis 1, Huse 1); Digs 50 (Oliver 22).

Laurel def. Havre

7-25, 21-25

HAV - Aces 4 (Alyssa Oliver 1, Avery Carlson 1, Yelena Miller 1, Molly Huse 1); Kills 11 (Jade Wendland 4, Maddie Columbus 3); Assists 11 (Huse 11); Blocks 3 (Miller 3, Kyanna Jarvis 1; Digs 38 (Oliver 13, Carlson 5, Wendland 5).