Havre High volleyball ready for another road trip

The Havre High volleyball team is back on the road this weekend with a trip to Laurel and Miles City on the docket. The Blue Ponies already defeated Sidney to open the season, so they will be looking to continue playing well this weekend.

The Ponies tip off the weekend with a match against Laurel in Billings. The Ponies and Locomotives will face off at the Alterowitz Gymnasium on the Montana State University-Billings campus. In the tipoff tournament earlier this season, Havre and Laurel split their matches, so HHS head coach Stephanie Huse expects a tough match tonight.

"Laurel will be a really good matchup for us. They're very athletic," Huse said. "I'm expecting a hard-fought battle just because that's what we saw out of them at the tip off tournament."

The Ponies will then head to Miles City for a match Saturday. In the tipoff tournament, the Ponies got the better of Miles City by winning both sets by a score of 20-10. The Cowgirls are an inexperienced squad, but Huse believes they have the physical tools to challenge the Ponies this weekend.

"They're growing and they're young but they've got some tall girls on their front line that will present some good defense and challenge our hitters a little bit," Huse said.

It will be the third straight weekend for the Ponies on the road to start the year after the tipoff tournament in Lockwood at the end of August and the road win over Sidney last weekend. While three straight road trips can be daunting for young athletes, Huse believes it will make the Ponies a better team.

"It's just another opportunity for us as a program to develop that team chemistry and the bonding that happens when you're together for a longer period of time," Huse said. "Even though it's our second one in a row, it's still a good thing for us to have and to be a part of so we're looking forward to it."

The Ponies defeated Sidney in three sets to open their conference schedule last weekend. Havre dominated all three sets by scores of 25-8, 25-9 and 25-7. To start the year, Kyanna Jarvis led the Ponies with 12 kills while also recording four service aces. Avery Carlson also had a strong start to the season with 11 kills and five service aces. After a good performance to start the year, Huse wants to see the Ponies carry that confidence into this weekend's matches.

"I just really felt that the girls played with a lot of confidence and I want to see that out of them every time they step on the floor," Huse said. "Just really owning their talent and owing their hard work and discipline and putting that into competition and seeing how it plays out."

With two more matches before next weekend's home opener, the Ponies want to be riding high coming into their first home match. If the Ponies can continue to build on what they did against Sidney, they should find their rhythm this weekend before returning to the Hi-Line.

"We just have to really be consistent with everything," Huse said. "The more consistent we get, I think the confidence grows even more and that will help us."

The HHS volleyball team begins the weekend tonight at 7 p.m. with a game against Laurel at Alterowitz Gymnasium in Billings. The Ponies will then play at Miles City Saturday at 4 p.m.