Lady Panthers sweep Worland, take conference lead

Posted 9/18/18

A fter 18 matches on the road to start the season, the Powell Lady Panthers volleyball team found home to be even sweeter than expected Saturday evening.

The Lady Panthers scored the first seven …

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Lady Panthers sweep Worland, take conference lead

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After 18 matches on the road to start the season, the Powell Lady Panthers volleyball team found home to be even sweeter than expected Saturday evening.

The Lady Panthers scored the first seven points of Saturday’s match against 3A Northwest rival Worland and never looked back on their way to a 25-18, 25-16, 25-16 sweep of the Lady Warriors at Panther Gymnasium.

Combined with Friday’s 25-22, 25-23, 25-17 win at Lander Valley, Powell (12-6-1) sits atop the 3A Northwest standings with a 2-0 record. Lander Valley and Worland are each 1-1 in conference play, while Lovell — who hosts Powell this Friday — is 0-2.

The Lady Panthers did not need long to seize the momentum Saturday against Worland, scoring the first seven points of the opening set behind the serving of Aubrie Stenerson. That run was punctuated by a Stenerson ace on the second serve of the evening and a Hartly Thorington kill on the next point.

A pair of Thorington aces sandwiched around a Stenerson kill gave Powell its biggest lead of the set at 19-5. The Lady Warriors ran off 13 of the next 18 points to close within six (24-18) before Powell closed out the set.

The second set was more of the same, as the Lady Panthers scored six straight points to take a 6-1 lead on a Thorington kill. A Thorington ace later made it 18-5, the Lady Panthers’ biggest lead of the set.

The Lady Warriors came alive to start the third set, forging a 9-9 tie. However, Powell responded with three points in a row — including back-to-back aces by Stenerson — to retake the lead for good.

Thorington unofficially had 10 kills and four aces on the evening against Worland, while Stenerson added three aces and a pair of kills and Rachel Bonander added three kills. Devon Curtis unofficially had three blocks and Gabi Metzler added a pair of first-set aces as the Lady Panthers dominated at the service line and at the net — and also on defense, digging up several balls throughout the evening.

In earlier action Saturday, the Lady Panthers’ junior varsity squad defeated Worland 25-23, 25-22, while the Powell freshmen lost in two sets.

The Lady Panthers head to Montana this (Tuesday) evening to take on Billings West before heading to Lovell Friday for another 3A Northwest contest.

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