Conference season is now underway for Powell volleyball, and the Panthers opened the slate with back-to-back losses.

On Friday, the Powell team traveled to Lander Valley for a road match against the Tigers. With two seniors out for this match — one with ankle injury; one with sickness — the Panthers were shorthanded. Plus, they hadn’t played in almost two weeks, a long period of time between matches.

The Panthers struggled in the first two sets against he Tigers and fell into a deep hole, and by the time they started meshing, it was too late. Lander Valley won 3-0 with set scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-17, according to WyoPreps.com.

“We struggled finding our groove for that first set and for some of the second set,” PHS head coach Tasha Miller said. “We hope the next time we meet up with them, it will be a totally different game.”

Against Worland at home, on Saturday, the Powell girls showed more energy out of the gate. Powell took set one 26-24 for an early 1-0 lead.

However, the Warriors took the next three sets, 25-13, 25-19, 25-21 for a 3-1 Worland win and an 0-2 weekend for PHS.

Still, Miller was impressed with the girls’ fight throughout the Worland match.

“They were all great games and their ability to continue to fight was impressive,” Miller said. “I was impressed by their energy and confidence; they were the team that I know them to be.”

This week, Powell has matches against Cody (road on Tuesday) and Buffalo (home on Saturday) on the schedule. The Panthers look to hone in on a few areas as they prepare for these contests.

“Our focus this week will be to get ready for Cody and Buffalo and continue conditioning, working on our defense and running plays,” Miller said.