PHS keeps perfect 3-0 record

Posted 9/29/09

In Friday's match, the Lady Panthers were dominant in the first two games, taking the first 21-12 and following up with a 25-5 win. During the second game, the Lady Tigers scored all five of their points on side-outs, and were never able to turn …

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PHS keeps perfect 3-0 record

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The Powell Lady Panthers notched two more conference wins on the road last week to run their record to 3-0 in volleyball action.The Lady Panthers stopped Lander on Friday in four sets and followed up with a 3-set win over Worland on Saturday.

In Friday's match, the Lady Panthers were dominant in the first two games, taking the first 21-12 and following up with a 25-5 win. During the second game, the Lady Tigers scored all five of their points on side-outs, and were never able to turn their serve into points.

But, as often happens in volleyball, the third game was a different story, and Lander came back with a 25-17 win.

“We got two games under our belt and then our intensity kind of dropped,” said coach Cindi Smith. “We had a lot of unforced errors and weren't moving well.”

After the loss, though, the Lady Panthers refocused and came back with a 25-17 win in set four to take the match.

As has been the case all year, the Lady Panthers used effective serving to power their win, serving with 97 percent accuracy for the match.

In Worland, it looked for a time as though the pattern would be repeated. After the Lady Panthers took an 2-0 lead with 25-16 and 25-19 wins in the first two sets, the Lady Warriors took and early lead in game three and nearly overcame a determined Powell comeback. The Lady Panthers trailed 15-10 at one point before a six-point run gave them their first lead of the game at 16-15. After several exchanges of points, Worland again opened up a lead at 22-19. The Lady Panthers managed to tie the game at that point, but another exchange of side-outs put the Lady Warriors at game point, 24-23. Again the Lady Panthers rallied with a side-out, tied the score, and put the game away with two consecutive points for the match.

“Worland is scrappy,” Smith said. “There were some great rallies in the third game.”

The Lady Panthers, who haven't lost a match in northwest conference play since 2006, will begin the second half of their conference schedule this week when they visit Cody on Thursday and entertain Lander on Friday. Two wins this week would clinch the top seed from the north in the Western Regional tournament, and Smith said the team would keep focusing on improving their game in preparation for the matches.

“You have to keep improving,” Smith said. “We'll look at where we're scoring points and work on our weak points. We want to be using everything we have to keep winning.”

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