Taking a quick trip to Buffalo paid off for the Powell Panther volleyball team, as the Panthers earned a 3-1 nonconference win over the Bison on Friday.

POWELL 3, BUFFALO 1

Taking the quick break from conference action the Panthers (13-9-1 overall, 0-2 3A West) matched up with the Bison (5-16 overall, 2-2 3A East) for the second time this season.

The Panthers started out strong, taking the lead early in the first set and not looking back en route to a 25-14 win.

Early momentum did not carry through to the second set, as the Bison took the lead early and held a lead midway through the set at 15-10 and forced a Powell timeout.

Powell battled back and closed the gap to 19-17 and forced a Buffalo timeout, but the Bison held off the Panthers and earned the 25-20 win.

“One thing for this team is that we do not play well when we start to play timid and scared,” coach Anna Flitner said. “Our errors skyrocket and we lose our confidence. If we can play aggressively and with confidence, there is a much better likelihood of us winning.”

Powell bounced back in the third set, taking an early lead and forcing a Buffalo timeout.

The Panthers pulled ahead and held off a late charge to take the 25-22 win.

In the fourth set the Panthers trailed throughout, falling behind and calling timeouts when trailing 15-13 and 21-17.

It was down to set point for the Bison at 24-21, before the Panthers pulled off one final rally.

After two straight points Buffalo called a timeout at 24-23.

Out of the timeout, Hali Hancock’s kill found the court and tied it at 24, and an ace by Leah Graham made it 25-24 and forced a second Buffalo timeout.

The final point came on a kill attempt by Kindyle Floy which was blocked out by the Bison to give Powell the 26-24 win.

“It was important for us to finish strong and recognize what we can come back from,” Flitner said. “We have also talked about the difficulties of going to a fifth set and taking care of things before we get to that point. I want us to find a little more consistency moving forward in our play.”

Kaedenze Carter led with 12 kills, just ahead of Floy with 11 and Ava Brewer with 10.

Graham had 40 assists and four aces to lead in both categories, Ava Teten led with 16 digs while Carter added 13 and Floy had 10.

Hancock and Graham tied for the team lead with 1.5 blocks each.

LOCAL CONTESTS

Powell returns to the basin this week to take on a pair of vastly different opponents, starting with a quick road trip to Lovell on Thursday to take on the Bulldogs (15-3-2 overall, 1-1 3A West) at 6 p.m.

“Lovell is a talented and scrappy team. I think their community has done a great job of building a volleyball culture — they have so many great young players,” Flitner said. “I am excited for the girls because I think it has the potential to be a really fun game for them. Our conference is tough, which I think is a blessing because tough is when the fun, high-level volleyball happens.”

The Panthers then return home on Saturday, welcoming in 2A Thermopolis (4-14 overall, 0-2 2A Northwest) at 2 p.m.

Those will be the final contests of the week before the Panthers prepare for the 3A West Conference Duals in Worland on Oct. 10-11.

POWELL 3, BUFFALO 1

(25-14, 20-25, 25-22, 26-24)

Total blocks then solo blocks in ()

Kills — Kaedenze Carter 12, Kindyle Floy 11, Ava Brewer 10, Autumn Kidd 6, Hali Hancock 6, Leah Graham 5

Assists — Leah Graham 40, Kaedenze Carter 2, Ava Teten 2, Kindyle Floy 1, Maddie Valdez 1

Digs — Ava Teten 16, Kaedenze Carter 13, Kindyle Floy 10, Maddie Valdez 8, Leah Graham 5, Abigail Visocky 2, Ava Brewer 1

Blocks — Hali Hancock 1.5, Leah Graham 1.5, Ava Brewer 1, Autumn Kidd .5, Peyton Ott .5

Aces — Leah Graham 4, Kaedenze Carter 3, Maddie Valdez 3, Abigail Visocky 2, Kindyle Floy 2