PHS finishes undefeated in conference play

While Saturday was meant to serve as the proper sendoff for the seniors on the Powell High School volleyball team, it ended as more of a message heading into the Class 3A Regionals on Friday.

These Lady Panthers have arrived.

Looking like a much different team at the end of the season than it did a year ago, PHS earned a 25-18, 25-19, 25-13 senior night victory over 3A Northwest Conference foe Lander Valley to finish 6-0 in the conference and 26-2 overall.

The Lady Panthers have not lost since a Sept. 13 setback to then-No. 1 Mountain View. PHS avenged that loss during conference duals on Oct. 11, overtaking the Buffaloes as 3A’s top team. The Lady Panthers have rolled since, and will enjoy a No. 1 seed when regional play begins at Jackson Hole on Friday.

“This was a great win for us,” said senior Megan Wagner. “To finish out our regular season with a sweep, it just gives us so much momentum going into the postseason. This was a perfect finish.”

Several PHS seniors were in tears following the victory, as Saturday’s match marked their final game at Powell High School.

Senior Taylor Woodward said the tears came from a place of closeness and solidarity.

“We are where we are this season because of how much we’ve all grown together as one unit,” Woodward said. “We struggled at the end of the year last season because I don’t think we had this same closeness. But it’s the togetherness that we have formed now that is really going to drive us forward.”

Against Lander Valley, PHS continued that progress.

The Lady Panthers and Tigers were deadlocked for most of the match’s first set. A Wagner kill gave PHS an early 8-4 lead, but LVHS stormed back with a 6-1 run starting with a Raylee Nipper kill.

Three straight Panther errors tied the game at nine before Keesha Rowan scored an ace to give the Tigers the one-point advantage. PHS’ Anissa Warner answered with a spike to knot the  set again, and the two teams battled back-and-forth over the next several points.

Tied at 17, Panther junior Breanna Donarski then took over, collecting three kills and a block as PHS finished on an 8-1 run to seal the set victory.

“There were two ways that today could’ve played out, and I think there was a lot of emotion running through the girls early,” PHS coach Cindi Smith said. “When we calmed down, we were able to settle in and play our game the way we wanted to.”

LVHS did its best to prevent that from happening in set two, but again the Panthers withstood the feisty Tigers. Sophomore Kalina Smith sandwiched two errors around a miscue from Wagner as LVHS built a 10-5 lead, but Smith started a 13-4 run with a kill and the Panthers cruised from there.

Smith added an ace during the push, and Donarski, Warner and Kelsey Marchant added points to seize control. Sophomore Tayli Stenerson also had an ace during the decisive spurt. Wagner spiked the ball through an attempted Tiger block to finish the set-two win.

“We just needed to get more aggressive and focus on the match at hand,” Wagner said. “We work so hard out there on the court and play as a family, and good things happen.”

The Panthers finished strong in the third set, this time building their own 10-6 cushion. But unlike the Tigers, PHS was able to maintain the early advantage. After a LVHS error, Wagner collected back-to-back kills, Smith served up an ace and Donarski added another kill to make it a 15-6 game. Stenerson later added two aces around a kill from Woodward to virtually secure the PHS blowout at 21-9.

Smith led PHS with 14 kills, while Donarski had eight and Woodward tallied five. Donarski also had five aces with Stenerson knocking down four. Donarski also earned 25 digs followed by 23 for Jenni Ebersberger.

“Everyone contributes,” Woodward added. “That’s why we’re a family ... everyone has a role and plays their part to better the team.”