MELLETTE – When Ashley Haven entered a match during her eighth-grade season, she began harvesting victories and has seldom left the floor in the five years since.

Now a standout senior for Northwestern, Haven is ready to help the Wildcats reap more success during this weekend’s State B Volleyball Tournament at The Monument in Rapid City.

The squad has the luxury of knowing that Haven excels wherever she is located on the floor.

“That was a luxury in the making. Unfortunately, we had to stack a lot on her early. She’s been a six-rotation player,” said Northwestern coach Nora Groft. “When she was an eighth-grader my outside broke her hand, so we moved Ashley into that full-time varsity role. As a freshman it was on her. She had to be a primary passer on serve receive. She literally had to do it all since her freshman year.”

Haven knew that much was expected of her, but nobody demanded more of her than herself.

“My eighth-grade year I definitely was like I’ve got some shoes to fill,” Haven said. “I was a lot harder on myself my eighth-grade and freshman year.”

Since then, Haven has learned to have a more positive mindset while still producing for the Wildcats, the second-rated Class B team this season.

“The way that she plays now is so much calmer,” Groft said. “She has such a calm demeanor out on the floor. Her Volleyball IQ is off the charts, because she’s been there, done that. She’s seen it all.”

And, about the only thing that has been able to slow Haven down through the years has been a bout of food poisoning.

“My sophomore year, we played Hitchcock-Tulare in the second round of regions and that is when I had food poisoning,” Haven said. “I was like, why does this have to happen this one day? I kind of took that kind of hard.”

Outside of that, Haven has placed her fingerprints all over the Northwestern program, hitting two milestone accomplishments this past season.

Haven broke the school’s all-time kills record that belonged to former standout Jussy Tuscherer.

“I had no idea I was close to that one,” Haven said. “Never thought I would get that. That was fantastic.”

She also took down the all-time block record that belonged to her sister, Ella.

“She’s definitely not very happy about that. It was really fun to be able to go one sister to the next sister,” Haven said. “I didn’t think that I was even close to breaking that record. She was a fantastic player. She could jump so high. She’s shorter than me. I’m pretty sure she has a better vertical than me.”

While Haven has been racking up wins and records on the court, she has been helping her family’s custom harvesting business off of it.

“That’s what I grew up knowing,” Haven said. “It’s just lot of fun. … Half the time I get to sit in the combine, so it’s not too hard sometimes.”

The truth is, the hard work that Haven puts in off the court translates into success when she is on it.

“That kid will put in 80-90 hours in a week,” Groft said. “There’s just no quit in her. She is a farm kid. She knows what work is and she’s not afraid of it.”

There’s no denying Haven’s athleticism. She also is a key member of the girls’ basketball team and said that track and field was actually her favorite sport before ankle injury her sophomore year marked the end of her competing in that.

There’s one thing about basketball that motivates Haven: the physicality that takes place on the court where she gets to battle under the basket.

“If someone’s getting physical, I’m going to get physical back,” Haven said. “I don’t want to hurt anybody. … If they think they’re going to push me around I’m going to push them right back and tell them no you can’t do that. You’re going to learn.”

While there is no physical contact in volleyball, Haven still has the same attitude, always looking forward to meeting a challenge head on.

“We’ve played a few matches this year where there was a good player on the other team,” Groft said. “Ashley always rises to the challenge of that. She always steps up her game when challenged. I think she kind of takes a little pride in that. She can play with the best of them.”

As for the future, Haven is not going to play collegiate sports, instead focusing on an ag-related degree before heading back to a combine.

“I don’t really know if it’s quite hit me that, oh I’m done after this week. I’ve had so many great years here,” Haven said. “It will definitely hit later on, but I’m just grateful that I’ve had this opportunity and this school that has just brought me up into this, all the coaches and teammates that have pushed me. It has just been amazing.”