Passionate play brought out the best in the Park County tennis matches last Tuesday, as the Powell Panther boys found a way to sweep the rival Broncs 5-0 and the girls came up short in a sweep by the Fillies.

POWELL 5, CODY 0

The first set of matches between the two rivals is deemed as a nonconference match, but that didn’t slow down the teams from playing at their best.

“A lot of these kids have been playing varsity tennis, gone through camps together or played tournaments together during the summer months, so there’s a connection and familiarity,” Coach Joe Asay said. “So you want to get out there and beat them.”

At No. 1 singles Cade Queen overcame a slow start, and ended up finishing off a two set victory over Nick Stewart (6-3, 6-3).

Nathan Preator battled in one of the matches of the night against Carter Thompson, coming back from a first set loss 4-6 and winning the next two sets 6-4 and 7-5 to claim his sixth victory on the season.

Keegan Hicswa and Taeson Schultz dominated the first set against Christian Dudrick and Curtis Miller in No. 1 doubles by sweeping 6-0, but lost the second set 4-6.

In the third set Hicswa and Schultz found their groove again and rolled to a 6-1 victory.

Ryan Barrus and Seeger Wormald fell behind early at No. 2 doubles, losing the first set 5-7.

The duo battled back and won the next two sets by identical 6-4 scorelines over Zach Schwab and Hudson Wallace.

No. 3 doubles brought a smoother match for Isaac Stensing and Tevon Schultz, who defeated Wesley Law and Jamie Domingo in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.

“It was good to have the wins and the match experience,” Asay said.

That moved the Panthers to 5-2 on the season as a team.

CODY 5, POWELL 0

It was a more difficult matchup throughout for the girls, with the Panthers earning one set off their rivals in five matches.

That one set came at No. 1 singles, with Lachelle Lee and Cody’s Noelle Graham battling for nearly three hours.

Graham took the first set 2-6, before Lee earned a 6-4 victory in the second set.

The third set saw Graham rebound and claim the win by the same score as the first set to earn the victory for the Fillies.

No. 2 singles was a difficult matchup for Maya Landwehr, who earned one game in two matches from Karina Schoessler (1-6, 0-6).

Lucy and Naomi Whipple battled in the first set of No. 1 doubles in a 3-6 loss to Alyssa Despain and Natalie Wenke, before getting shut out in the second set 0-6.

Sophie Czirr and Meaghan McKeen kept things close in the first set at No. 2 doubles but came up short 4-6, before Brenna Foote and Ellie Wassink claimed a resounding 1-6 victory in set two.

Bailee Allred and Elaina Kousoulos fell just short in the first set against Evie McGonagle and Hailey Dansie 5-7 before the Fillies completed the sweep 2-6.

“I did see the play we are trying to work towards,” Asay said. “Especially on the doubles side, trying to get consistent with our serves, being effective with our returns along with finding those opportunities to move in, volley and take the net away from our opponents.”

The loss dropped the Panthers to 2-5 on the season.

Powell’s scheduled matches against Rawlins this past Saturday were canceled.

RETURN MATCHES THURSDAY

The teams won’t have to wait long to face each other on the court again, with the return leg set for Thursday afternoon in Powell.

This time the matchups will count toward the players’ conference standings, as the season is quickly winding down.

“We will do it again, the lineup won’t look a whole lot different,” Asay said.

That match will be followed by a pair of matches against Kelly Walsh on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and Natrona County at 2 p.m. to wrap up the regular season.

“It’ll be fun, I always enjoy those Casper matches,” Asay said.

After those matches Powell will spend two straight weekends in Gillette, with the North Regional tournament at Thunder Basin next Friday and Saturday before the state tournament the following weekend.