The Powell Panther volleyball team was swept by the visiting Lovell Bulldogs on Thursday in the Panthers’ final regular season contest.

LOVELL 3, POWELL 0

(25-15, 25-17, 25-23)

Looking for a win to improve their regional seeding the Panthers (16-15-1 overall, 2-8 3A West) took on the Bulldogs (22-5-2 overall, 7-3 3A West) who were locked into the No. 3 seed.

Lovell came out strong and built an advantage early, holding a 12-7 lead over the Panthers.

Powell continued to trail, down 19-12 after a hit out by the Panthers and forcing a timeout by the hosts.

Lovell finished the set strong, earning a 25-15 win to take the 1-0 lead.

“When our block is set, I think we do a good job of defending teams overall,” coach Anna Flitner said. “I think with some of their faster sets we were a little late making it more difficult to defend.”

The Bulldogs again started with the lead in the second, making it 10-5 after an ace and forcing an early Powell timeout.

A hit out by the Panthers made it 20-14 and forced another timeout by the hosts, and the Panthers were unable to recover and fell 25-17 to go down 2-0.

In the third set the Panthers kept it closer early, trailing 13-10 and calling a timeout after the Bulldogs took advantage of communication errors by the Panthers.

Kindyle Floy’s kill evened things up at 15 each, as her hit down the line forced a Lovell timeout.

Out of that timeout the Bulldogs went on a 4-0 stretch, before the Panthers again fought back and tied it after a Leah Graham block and Abigail Visocky ace made it 23-22 Powell.

A serve out followed by a hit into the net made it 24-23 Bulldogs and forced a Panther timeout.

Another hit into the net finished the match and the Panthers fell 25-23.

“We talked about trying to get up early and that seemed to help us, but we do need to work on maintaining our composure in order to finish out a set,” Flitner said. “I think one of the biggest things about Lovell is how scrappy they are. Other balls that are an ace or a kill against other teams can be turned into an in-system sequence for Lovell. Their coach has done a great job with them and deserves a lot of recognition and I’m excited to see what they are able to do this postseason.”

Kaedenze Carter led with 10 kills, Graham led with 27 assists, Floy and Ava Teten had 14 digs, Autumn Kidd led with 1.5 blocks, one solo, and Visocky had two aces. Carter added 11 digs.

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

Powell heads on the road to begin the postseason, making the trek to Pinedale to take part in the 3A West Championships.

Following a series of tiebreakers the Panthers slid into the No. 8 seed, taking on the No. 1 seeded Cody Fillies (30-2 overall, 10-0 3A West) at 10 a.m. on Friday.

In the regular season the Panthers were unable to take a set from the Fillies in a pair of losses.

“Playing Cody first round will be tough. This week we need to work on speeding things up both offensively and defensively,” Flitner said. “Cody is a tough team to defend when they are in system. Hopefully we can use what we learned from playing them recently to help the girls go in confidently to our first round.”

If Powell wins it will take on the winner of No. 4 Pinedale (18-13-1 overall, 5-5 3A West) and No. 5 Lyman (17-15-1 overall, 3-7 3A West) at 4 p.m. on Friday, or the Panthers will take on the loser of that contest at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

In order to advance to the state tournament for a fourth consecutive year the Panthers will need to win two matches, with the 3A West expected to be a difficult tournament.

“In order to win two games this weekend, I think we need to play together as a team and build each other up when things get difficult because I anticipate a lot of close matches this weekend,” Flitner said. “If they can remain positive and lean on each other, I think we will be successful.”

LOVELL 3, POWELL 0

(25-15, 25-17, 25-23)

Total blocks then solo blocks in ()

Kills — Kaedenze Carter 10, Kindyle Floy 9, Ava Brewer 5, Hali Hancock 5, Autumn Kidd 2, Ava Teten 1

Assists — Leah Graham 27, Kaedenze Carter 2, Abigail Visocky 1

Digs — Kindyle Floy 14, Ava Teten 14, Kaedenze Carter 11, Leah Graham 9, Abigail Visocky 4, Ava Brewer 1, Maddie Valdez 1

Blocks — Autumn Kidd 1.5 (1), Hali Hancock 1 (1), Leah Graham .5

Aces — Abigail Visocky 2

3A WEST TOURNAMENT

FRIDAY

Game 1 — 10 a.m. No. 1 Cody vs. No. 8 Powell

Game 2 — 11:45 a.m. No. 4 Pinedale vs. No. 5 Lyman

Game 3 — 1:30 p.m. No. 2 Mountain View vs. No. 7 Lander

Game 4 — 3:15 p.m. No. 3 Lovell vs. No. 6 Worland

Game 5 — 5 p.m. Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Game 6 — 6:45 p.m. Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

SATURDAY

Game 7 — 9 a.m. Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

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

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

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

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)