An epic Park County showdown Tuesday night lived up to the hype at Powell High School. The Powell Panther and Cody Filly volleyball teams fought until the end in a five set thriller with the Fillies coming out on top of the Panthers 3-2.

CODY 3, POWELL 2

(21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 12-15)

In a matchup between the top two teams in the 3A West the Panthers (23-6-1 overall, 7-2 3A West) were hoping for a better matchup after their 3-0 loss to the Fillies (21-6 overall, 9-0 3A West) in Cody last month.

Powell came out stronger than the first time the two teams met, as Peyton Borcher helped the Panthers to an 11-10 lead early after an ace.

“We worked on a lot of things that we saw in the Cody game last time. One being the mental piece, and two, adjusting to much quicker sets and trying to get our pace a lot quicker as well,” coach Anna Flitner said. “I think that helped us feel more prepared in terms of starting with them. I think in the last game we were a little bit intimidated and not quite ready for the pace that Cody plays with.”

The two teams battled for each point, with neither gaining a significant advantage early on.

Cody started pulling away once the teams hit 20, as the visitors held a 22-20 lead and forced a timeout from Flitner.

The Panthers were unable to stage a late comeback as Cody took the first set 25-21.

Despite the opening set loss, Flitner said her team remained positive heading into the second.

“We play our best when we play loose and when the girls are having fun — when we’re aggressive and keeping other teams out of system,” Flitner said. “So we talked about staying aggressive, playing hard and playing to have fun.”

Early in the second the Fillies held the lead until Powell gained it after a Catelynn Floy kill to make it 12-11.

Consecutive aces by Addison Holcomb followed to make it 14-11 and Powell maintained that lead until it was 19-15 to force a Cody timeout.

Powell continued pushing and used a late Saige Kidd kill to finish the set 25-19 and tie the match 1-1.

Holcomb helped Powell carry that momentum in the second, building a 10-5 lead early.

Powell continued to build on that lead through Cody errors, building as large as a 24-17 lead and forcing a Filly timeout.

Four points by Cody forced a Powell timeout, but the Panthers finished the set with a 25-22 win after another Kidd kill.

The fourth set continued the close match, with each team holding a lead midway and Powell holding the lead late after Cody hit the ball out and Borcher aced to give Powell an 18-16 lead.

The Panthers maintained that lead and held a 23-22 advantage after a Leah Graham ace to force a Cody timeout.

Two long hits out of the timeout gave Cody the lead and forced a Powell timeout.

Powell could not find final points and the Fillies won 25-23 to force a winner-take-all fifth set.

In the final set Cody got the better start, holding a lead throughout until a timeout by Powell down 9-6.

That lead held until another timeout at 14-11, and Powell was unable to find a comeback in a 15-12 loss.

“It’s good to know that we can play with them,” Flitner said. “We talked about using it as motivation moving forward into regionals and hopefully state if all goes well.”

Holcomb led Powell with 20 kills just ahead of Floy with 18 and Kidd added 11.

Graham had 49 assists, while Floy led with 21 digs ahead of Alexa Richardson with 15 and Holcomb with 12.

Holcom led with 2.5 blocks, two solo, and Graham led with four aces.

FINAL REGULAR SEASON MATCH

Heading into the final match of the regular season the Panthers have already locked up the No. 2 seed heading into the regional tournament at home next weekend.

That means the Panthers will be unaffected by a loss in the final match at 6 p.m. in Lovell against the Bulldogs (12-12 overall, 2-7 3A West) today (Thursday), but the Bulldogs have a chance to move up the standings on their home court from the eighth position as they are one game behind Worland, Lander and Mountain View.

Despite no worries in the standings for the Panthers, Flitner said she still wants her team to come out strong and compete against the Bulldogs.

“It’s going to be whoever is scrappiest,” Flitner said. “They don’t let balls hit the floor. So we just have to make sure we’re playing hard and we’ll just continue to bring all the things that we’ve been working on against Cody into Lovell as well.”

CODY 3, POWELL 2

(21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 12-15)

Total blocks then solo blocks in ()

Kills — Addison Holcomb 20, Catelynn Floy 18, Saige Kidd 11, Kodee Asay 8, Kaedenze Carter 2, Leah Graham 1

Assists — Leah Graham 49, Saige Kidd 2, Kaedenze Carter 1, Catelynn Floy 1

Digs — Catelynn Floy 21, Alexa Richardson 15, Addison Holcomb 12, Leah Graham 8, Peyton Borcher 5, Saige Kidd 2, Kaedenze Carter 2, Kodee Asay 2

Blocks — Addison Holcomb 2.5 (2), Saige Kidd 1, Catelynn Floy .5

Aces — Leah Graham 4, Peyton Borcher 2, Saige Kidd 2, Addison Holcomb 2, Alexa Richardson 1