The Powell High School volleyball team fell against the Lovell Bulldogs 3-0 on senior night while hosting its final match of the season, and head to regionals in Worland as the No. 3 seed on Friday.

“Senior night always brings out a lot of emotions, but I’m just so grateful for this group of seniors,” coach Anna Flitner said. “They are such a fantastic group of girls, and I feel really lucky to have worked with them over the last four years. We’ve all grown and learned a lot together, and I’m so thankful for everything they’ve given to our program.”

LOVELL 3, POWELL 0

(25-15, 25-12, 25-16)

Both teams were not playing for seeding in the final match of the regular season for each, as the Panthers (21-12 overall, 7-3 3A West) were locked in at No. 3 and the Bulldogs (26-1 overall, 10-0 3A West) wrapped up the No. 1 seed with a win over Worland Tuesday.

Lovell got off to a quick start, building a 10-3 lead and forcing a Panther timeout.

The Panthers kept the margin at seven, not allowing the visitors to extend it to double-digits after a Kindyle Floy kill made it 17-10.

Powell talked things over once again when trailing 21-13, before Lovell finished with a double-digit final margin at 25-15.

Lovell again built a lead early in the second set, but a Leah Graham block kept Powell within striking distance at 14-8.

The Panthers searched for points, but the Bulldogs had an answer every time as Powell continued to trail 16-9 and called a timeout, before the visitors pushed it to 10 at 21-11.

“We struggled to put all the pieces together consistently. Sometimes our serve-receive was off, and other times when we did get a great pass, we struggled to convert it into a kill or made unforced errors,” Flitner said. “Lovell is an amazing team. If you give them a free ball, they’ll capitalize on it almost every time. Lovell is a team that just keeps getting better too. They’re scrappy, they don’t let balls hit the floor and they have so many talented players. There’s a reason they’re ranked No. 1, [coach] Tera [Kostelecky] has done a great job with them.”

Lovell pushed ahead for the 25-12 win.

The Panthers trailed early in the third 10-4, and were unable to recover before the visitors finished the sweep with a 25-16 win.

“This match was really useful because it helped us identify our weaker areas going into regionals. I also think it clicked for some of them that when we were aggressive, it either ended in us winning the point or sticking with them in a great long rally,” Flitner said. “I also felt like our reading on defense was much better than the last time we played them. I’m looking forward to having the team watch some film on our blocking this week so we can improve that too and make some adjustments.”

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

Powell’s opponent for the  the regional tournament has been set since Thursday, as the Panthers take on No. 6 seed Pinedale (11-19-2 overall, 3-7 3A West) at 11:45 a.m. on Friday in Worland.

“We have a full week to build our confidence and prepare, and I’m really excited to have that time in the gym. Having played Pinedale already helps because we know what to expect,” Flitner said. “Regionals is always a different atmosphere, the stakes are higher and every single team shows up to play.”

If the Panthers win, they’ll advance to the semifinal against the winner of No. 2 Mountain View (25-8-1 overall, 9-1 3A West) and No. 7 Lyman (9-23 overall, 2-8 3A West) at 5 p.m. on Friday. If they lose, they’ll drop to the consolation bracket to play the loser of that contest at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Powell defeated Pinedale 3-1 and Lyman 3-0 at the conference duals on Oct. 9-10 but fell to Mountain View 3-2.

Powell needs to win two contests before it loses two in order to make it back to the state tournament in Casper this week after the Panthers failed to make it last season.

“I think it really comes down to consistency. When the other team gets a point, we just have to reset and take control back right away,” Flitner said. “Cutting down on our unforced errors is also huge. That’s been the biggest factor holding us back from closing out tight games, so that will be an area of focus this week.”

LOVELL 3, POWELL 0

(25-15, 25-12, 25-16)

Total blocks then solo blocks in ()

Kills — Peyton Ott 7, Leah Graham 5, Kaedenze Carter 4, Kindyle Floy 2, Ava Brewer 1

Assists — Leah Graham 13, Ava Teten 2, Kindyle Floy 2

Digs — Kaedenze Carter 11, Kindyle Floy 9, Ava Teten 8, Leah Graham 7, Abigail Visocky 7, Peyton Ott 3

Blocks — Autumn Kidd 2, Leah Graham 1.5 (1), Kindyle Floy 1, Kaedenze Carter .5

Aces — Leah Graham 1, Maddie Valdez 1

3A WEST REGIONAL BRACKET

(All games at Worland High School)

FRIDAY

Game 1: 10 a.m. — No. 2 Mountain View vs. No. 7 Lyman

Game 2: 11:45 a.m. — No. 3 Powell vs. No. 6 Pinedale

Game 3: 1:30 p.m. — No. 1 Lovell vs. No. 8 Rawlins

Game 4: 3:15 p.m. — No. 4 Worland vs. No. 5 Lander

Game 5: 5 p.m. — Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (Winner qualifies for state)

Game 6: 6:45 p.m. — Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (Winner qualifies for state)

SATURDAY

Game 7: 9 a.m. — Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Loser out)

Game 8: 10:45 a.m. — Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (Loser out)

Game 9: 12:30 p.m. — Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 6 (Loser out)

Game 10: 2:15 p.m. — Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 5 (Loser out)

Game 11: 4 p.m. — Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 (Third place game)

Game 12: 5:45 p.m. — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (Championship game)