Ready for regionals; PHS volleyball begins quest for 3A state title on Friday

Posted 10/30/14

Shortly after that win, the Lady Panthers replaced MVHS as Class 3A’s top-ranked team, and they are in a similar position as the 3A West regional tournament begins Friday at Jackson Hole. No. 1-seeded PHS (26-2) will host No. 4 Pinedale (3-21) in …

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Ready for regionals; PHS volleyball begins quest for 3A state title on Friday

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After defeating Mountain View on Oct. 11, the Powell High School volleyball team’s view on the mountain was from the top.

Shortly after that win, the Lady Panthers replaced MVHS as Class 3A’s top-ranked team, and they are in a similar position as the 3A West regional tournament begins Friday at Jackson Hole. No. 1-seeded PHS (26-2) will host No. 4 Pinedale (3-21) in the first round of tournament play at 2:30 p.m. The winner of that match will later face either Lander (7-20) or Star Valley (11-12) at 5:30 p.m. for a chance to advance to the regional title match on Saturday.

The top four teams from the West regional will combine with the top four squads from the 3A East regional being played at Worland this weekend. Those eight teams will make up the state tournament bracket in Casper. Mountain View, Cody, Jackson and Lovell are the other teams competing in the West region.

“It’s definitely an exciting time,” PHS head coach Cindi Smith said on Tuesday. “This is where we as a coaching staff get to see if our girls can live up to their potential. We have to be at our best from here on out.”

PHS appeared to be at its best when it faced Pinedale on Oct. 10. at the 3A conference duals in Powell. The two teams’ only match of the season saw the Lady Panthers sweep the Wranglers 25-9, 25-12, 25-16 en route to a 4-0 performance at the duals. Pinedale could be in for another tough matchup, as PHS has been on an unbelievable tear after losing to Mountain View (21-10, 21-13) on Sept. 13. The Lady Panthers have won 12 straight matches and have gone 24-1 since Aug. 29. Still, Smith expects the Wranglers to come to Jackson hungry for a chance to derail her team’s championship hopes.

“The confidence is definitely there for the girls,” Smith said. “But we have to drive it home for them that no team can be overlooked from here on out. When you get to regionals, anybody can beat anybody.”

PHS proved that last season. After finishing in a tie for the regional tournament’s first seed last season, the Lady Panthers lost a coin flip and fell to the second seed. They eventually placed fourth in the tournament, just barely qualifying for state.

But PHS ran the table in Casper, and took home the 3A state championship.

“We sort of lived on the other side of the fence,” Smith added. “So we know that just because we’re No. 1 doesn’t mean that other teams aren’t going to be gunning for us. As always, the target is on our backs.”

But as PHS senior Taylor Woodward stated after a sweep of Lander Valley on Saturday: “If you don’t believe, you don’t belong. And right now, there’s no one on this team that doesn’t believe we’re going to win another state championship.

“We’ve worked all season long to get in the best position possible come playoffs, and we’re ready to go the distance again.”

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