A trip over the mountain to Sheridan allowed the Powell Panther tennis teams to battle against a rarely seen opponent on Saturday, with the girls’ team defeating Torrington 4-1 and the boys’ team winning 3-2.

“I knew it would be a good opportunity to go over there and compete,” coach Joe Asay said.

GIRLS

POWELL 4, TORRINGTON 1

Making the trip to Sheridan on Saturday the Panther girls played well against the Trailblazers, with players in new spots throughout the lineup.

That started at the top, with Kyra Morrow taking the No. 1 singles spot for the first time this season, giving additional rest to Naomi Whipple as the Panthers wanted her to continue recovering from an earlier season injury.

Morrow battled at the top, but came up short in a close contest against Madix McIntosh in straight sets 6-7 (3-7), 3-6.

“Kyra stepped in, played and competed well,” Asay said. 

Sophie Czirr slotted in at the No. 2 singles spot, winning in straight sets over Madison Hatch 6-3, 6-3.

In the No. 1 doubles slot were Isabelle Urbach and Elaina Kousoulos, sliding up from their normal No. 2 doubles position.

They defeated Laney Grubbs and Natalie Lira in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.

“It was fun because we moved everybody up in this non-conference matchup, and my No. 2 doubles performed wonderfully at that spot (1 doubles), and just played some really great tennis,” Asay said. “That was a lot of fun to see them kind of getting that dialed in.”

That meant that Bailee Allred and Ava Stearns moved up to No. 2 doubles, earning a strong victory against Haley DeFoe and Keelin Connelly 6-0, 6-2.
A new duo took the No. 3 slot for the Panthers, as sophomores Ava Gilliatt and Noelle Leighton defeated Inez Chavez and Addison Hansen 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.

BOYS

POWELL 3, TORRINGTON 2

On the boys’ side the Panthers also had a strong day against the Trailblazers.

Nathan Preator set the tone at No. 1 singles, defeating Skyler Thomas 6-1, 6-0.

Trevion Solberg dropped a close match at No. 2 singles against Elijah Hatch, falling just short 5-7, 3-6.

“He got out to a good 5-2 lead in that first set, and then just had a hard time figuring out how to finish,” Asay said. “That’s just a big part of match play. We continue to try to work with him, obviously [through] time on the courts in practice and even during the course of the match, kind of trying to help him figure out ways to play points. You got to be able to get out there and execute, work through whatever might be running through your head. It was a pretty good opportunity for him to potentially get out there and get a win but came up a little short.”

The Panthers picked a win up at No. 1 doubles, when Taeson Schultz and Ryan Barrus defeated Braxton Carlson and Benaiah Steinbrecher 6-1, 6-3.

Another new Panther duo stepped in at No. 2 doubles, where Isaac Dunsey and Brighton Streeter came up short against Gabe Posten and Marcus Jones 4-6, 4-6.

No. 3 doubles is where the Panthers finished the tie between the two teams, when Memphis Solberg and Calvin Opps defeated Maxton Matthews and Silas Kiiskinen 6-4, 6-1.

CODY MATCHUP

The Panthers are now set to match up with the Broncs and Fillies for the first time this season after the first matchup was postponed due to weather last week.

Two matchups were originally scheduled against the cross county rivals this week, with one matchup today (Tuesday) in Powell and one on Thursday in Cody.

Projected weather Thursday forced the two teams to agree to move the conference matchup to today (Tuesday) in Cody at 4 p.m.

“They’re familiar (with each other),” Asay said. “They know the ability and they know what the Cody kids bring. There are certainly some pretty tough matchups with the Cody kids. But as coaches, we continue to emphasize that you know you just need to do your parts … That’s a strong program over there this year with Cody, and we’ll have some good matchups at a few of the spots for sure.”