There are plenty of returners for the 2026 edition of the Powell High School volleyball team, as the Panthers aim for the state tournament with plenty of experience hitting the court this season.

One constant remains in the Panther lineup, as senior setter Leah Graham returns after having varsity experience all four years of her high school career.

She finished last season with 800 assists and was the lone All-Conference selection for the team.

“Last year we came in knowing it was going to be a year where our players had to get a lot of experience. This year we’re coming back, we lost one starter from last year,” coach Anna Flitner said. “A lot of our girls don’t have experience playing middle, but a lot of them have playing time and experience so that makes up for it. I’m hoping that will also help us moving into these early tournaments. Last year we had a lot of nerves and jitters, but I hope this year it’s transitioned more into excitement. So I’m really happy with where we’re starting this year, and I think they’re excited about it too.”

Upperclassmen will be at the forefront of the attack for the Panthers, as two seniors lead the lines being the first and third leading killers from last year.

Those will be Kaedenze Carter who led Powell with 364 kills, as well as Ava Brewer who had 175.

“We have a really strong senior group. Their leadership is huge. I think that they all have different strengths that we can use to round out the team really well, and I’m hoping too that we can use their leadership to help train some of the younger ones coming up,” Flitner said.

Adding to those senior attackers will be a pair of juniors in Kindyle Floy and Autumn Kidd, who were the second and fifth in kills with 180 and 132 respectively.

“I’m excited for the juniors both this year and next year because I think they’re going to do great things,” Flitner said.

The one replacement the Panthers will have to make comes through the middle, as they look to replace the team’s top blocker in Hali Hancock, with Flitner noting they are playing with different rotations and working towards a solution in the middle.

“We’re still working through some rotations right now … Hali did have a big presence and she also had a great leadership personality for us, and so it’s not easy to step into that role,” Flitner said. “So we might try a couple people in the middle and see if maybe splitting that role works for us. And if there’s one person that’s like ‘I shine in this role and I love playing here,’ then we might switch to that as well. But throughout tournament play we might just have to try a couple different rotations and see what suits the team best.”

Defensively the Panthers will rely on a combination of players from last year’s team, as Powell returns most of its defensive specialists/libero play in seniors Ava Teten and Maddie Valdez as well as junior Abigail Visocky.

Additionally the team brings back a couple more juniors with experience last year in Peyton Ott and Sam Edgell.

With so many returning players the Panthers are hoping for a return to the state tournament after missing last season, but expect a competitive season once again in the 3A West that features the defending state champions in the Lovell Bulldogs.

Powell starts on the road this year, heading even further southwest than usual, bypassing an annual trip to Lander and continuing on to a 1A powerhouse in the defending champion Cokeville for the season opening tournament.

“I’m hoping to go there this year and play some different teams than we usually would,” Flitner said. “It’ll be a great place to start and try out some different rotations and also hopefully play some really competitive volleyball.”

The Panthers start on Friday with a match against 2A Kemmerer at 10:30 a.m. before taking on Bear Lake High School out of Idaho at 1 p.m. and finishing at 6 p.m. against Rich High School out of Utah.

The tournament also features Wyoming teams from top classifications including Jackson and Evanston from the 4A ranks alongside Lyman and Mountain View from the 3A West.

Matches on Saturday are dependent on Friday’s pool play results.

The Panthers will be on the road until their home opener against Lander on Sept. 17.