On Saturday, Powell High School volleyball conquered one mountain.

The Panthers now have their eyes set on a steeper climb — winning a second straight Class 3A state championship.

PHS hosted the 3A conference duals Friday and Saturday, as teams from the 3A Northwest took on squads from the Southwest. As they’ve done at a rate of 92 percent this season, the Panthers won all four of their matches, moving to 23-2 on the year.

But victories over Jackson Hole, Pinedale and Star Valley were just precursors to Saturday afternoon’s No. 2 versus No. 1 showdown, as second-ranked PHS faced an opportunity to assert itself as the team to beat in 3A, and delivered.

“I just think the girls didn’t give up, and they pulled together as a team,” PHS coach Cindi Smith said after the Panthers’ thrilling 25-21, 22-25, 25-11, 23-25, 15-11 over Mountain View. “We just have so much potential, and the fun thing is that we still have so much room to grow as well.”

If PHS (23-2) develops anymore, the Wyoming High School Activities Association may just want to give the Panthers the 3A state trophy now. After Saturday, it appeared the Panthers are already refusing to lose.

After sweeping Star Valley 25-18, 25-22, 25-13 in its first action of the day, PHS found a fight in the form of MVHS (18-4).

After a Buffaloes’ error and back-to-back Panther kills had the hosts ahead 3-0 early, MVHS began battling back slowly. Sophomore Kalina Smith scored consecutive kills and Taylor Woodward and Anissa Warner teamed up for a block to push the PHS lead to 17-10, but an 11-7 run by the Buffaloes had MVHS threatening at 24-21. Taylor Meeks’ kill finished the move for MVHS, but the Buffaloes committed an error on match point to give PHS the first-set win.

“I really thought we came out strong and played well as a team,” Kalina Smith said. “We let them battle back, but that just pushed us harder and made us work for this one, which is a good thing.”

The Panthers and Buffaloes traded leads early in game two, but shortly after spikes from Smith and Kelsey Marchant had PHS ahead 12-17, two Panther errors combined with two straight kills from MVHS’ Lexi Stoddard had the Buffaloes right back in the set.

The game was tied at 15 when MVHS reeled off five straight points to seize control for good. Warner scored a block to make it 21-18, but PHS errors and spikes from Madison Vitt fueled the Buffaloes the rest of the way as they closed out the second game.

“We knew coming in that this wasn’t going to be an easy match for us,” Woodward said. “This was the first victory against Mountain View for us since I’ve been on the varsity team, so that just shows you how tough they are.”

The Panthers tamed some of that toughness in the third set, racing to a 14-point victory. But instead of folding, the Buffaloes took a 3-0 lead in set four and never looked back. PHS pulled within two or fewer points on several occasions, but never earned a lead. Nearly towering over the top of the net, Meeks gave PHS a load of trouble in the fourth set, scoring six points in the game, including a spike to stop a Panther rally when PHS pulled within 24-23 late.

With only 15 points needed to win the decisive fifth set, the two teams went toe-to-toe for the first half of the game. But behind Smith and Breanna Donarski, the Panthers prevailed. Two kills from Smith helped PHS climb back from a 7-5 deficit, and another kill moments later had the Panthers ahead for good. Donarski scored three kills in a stretch of four straight PHS points as Powell built a 12-8 cushion, and the Buffaloes’ ended their chances at a rally with consecutive errors to end the match.

“We’ve grown so close as a team, and I think that’s what helped us pull out this win,” Smith said. “We have so much fun playing together that it’s easy to stay comfortable and laid back on the court. When you have fun together you win together.”

Smith led the Panthers with 26 kills, while Woodward had 12 and Donarski nine. Donarski also added four service aces and 32 block assists. Jenni Ebersberger led PHS again with 30 digs.

The conference duals gave teams a chance to compete against schools they’ll see when regionals start on Halloween. They also help with seeding for regional play, and PHS’ dominance in the duals had coach Smith smiling at the end of the day.

“These wins are great for team confidence and momentum,” Smith said. “You get an idea of what to expect in the postseason, and winning here gives the girls something to build on when it’s time to start working toward state.”