Heading into the regional volleyball tournament in Lyman, the Panther volleyball team had enjoyed individual success but was still looking for team success. Powell High School head coach Lesli Spencer felt her team put together their best performance as a team at the weekend competition, despite falling just short of qualifying for the state tournament.

“As a team I do not think that they have played better,” Spencer said.

Mountain View 3, Powell 0

The Panthers’ weekend kicked off with a matchup against No. 2 seeded Mountain View on Friday, with Powell looking to prove that they could compete with one of the top teams in the state.

The Panthers came out swinging early against the Buffaloes, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. However, coming out of a timeout, Mountain View went on a 13-2 run to take a 17-12 lead.

The Panthers made a minor run to keep the score close, but Mountain View was able to finish off the set 25-22 and take a 1-0 lead.

The second set would be all Mountain View. The Buffaloes raced out to a 13-3 lead and cruised the rest of the way to a 25-7 win. 

Mountain View again came out swinging in the third set, starting out 6-1. The Panthers battled, but were never able to get within five points, as Mountain View completed the sweep, 25-18.

Powell 3, Kemmerer 2

Going into Saturday, the Panthers needed to win two straight matches in order to qualify for the state tournament. Their match against Kemmerer was tight from the start.

The first 18 points of the set were split evenly between the two teams, with the score tied at nine. The teams continued battling back and forth with Kemmerer pulling out a 26-24 victory.

In the second set, the Panthers trailed 11-6 early but battled back to win the set 25-23 — tying the match at one set each.

Kemmerer then took the third set, 25-22, putting Powell on the brink of elimination, but the Panthers took the fourth set by the largest margin of the day, at 25-20.

Heading into an all important fifth set, Spencer knew her team had the conditioning to finish off the match while she felt Kemmerer began to run out of energy. The Panthers pulled off the victory, 15-13, giving them a shot at advancing to the state tournament with a win against Pinedale in the afternoon.

“That match against Kemmerer was a huge growth game for them,” Spencer said of her squad. “Kemmerer was playing lights out and we were able to stick with them and pull it out at the end.”

Pinedale 3, Powell 0

Going into the consolation semifinal, the Panthers were coming off a short turnaround, while Pinedale had approximately 24 hours of rest after their semifinal loss the day prior to Lyman.

The Wranglers took advantage early, as they jumped out to a 14-8 lead and took the set 25-13.

However, the Panthers bounced back early in the second set. Powell jumped out to an 11-8 lead and appeared to be heading towards a close second set. But Pinedale took advantage of a tired Panther team, going on a 12-4 run to put the game out of reach at 20-15. The Wranglers took the next five points to win the second set 25-15.

With the season on the line, the Panthers were unable to answer the call as they trailed early and often in the third set. Pinedale jumped out to a 10-4 lead, and continued to build from there for a 25-12 win. The sweep ended Powell’s season.

Speaking overall about the Panthers’ performance at the regional tournament Spencer said that “nobody stood out individually but we definitely grew as a team.”

She specifically praised the “good leadership energy” of senior Meagan Good.

“She showed a lot of maturity and support to the rest of the girls which was of huge value,” Spencer said.

The Panthers will graduate only two seniors from a team that mostly featured a mix of sophomores and juniors.

First-year head coach Spencer and the Panther volleyball team will now move into an offseason, as they hope to build the young core featured this season into an improved team and state tournament berth next season.