Returning home after a busy weekend at the conference duals, the Powell Panther volleyball team battled with a new energy on Thursday, defeating Worland 3-1 in an important 3A West matchup.

POWELL 3, WORLAND 1

Back home for a quick pit stop Thursday the Panthers (16-13-1 overall, 2-6 3A West) matched up with the Warriors (12-15-2 overall, 2-7 3A West) looking for an important win towards their postseason push.

Early on both teams exchanged points back and forth, with the Panthers holding a slight edge up 12-11 midway through the first set.

Worland took the lead and pulled ahead to a 15-12 advantage, before the Panthers rallied for four straight of their own and took the lead 16-15 on a Kindyle Floy kill and forced a timeout by the visitors.

The Warriors regained the lead at 18-17 before Powell pushed ahead again at 21-19 and forced a second Warrior timeout.

Powell didn’t allow the visitors to regain the lead, and held on for a 25-23 win finished off by a Leah Graham kill.

In the second set the Panthers pushed ahead early, but were matched by the Warriors who came back to tie the match at 11.

Powell responded, rebuilding its lead and making it 15-11 on another Floy kill to force a timeout by the visitors.

Graham helped extend the Panther advantage on another kill, as Powell continued pressing.

The Panthers finished out the set with a 25-15 win to take a 2-0 lead.

“I feel like we were able to get a good start. I liked the energy our team had even prior to warmups,” coach Anna Flitner said. “I am hoping that we can continue that this week and into the postseason.”

Seeking their first three set sweep since Aug. 30, the Panthers went point for point again until the two teams were tied at 11.

Worland pushed ahead and built a 16-12 advantage after a block, forcing a Powell timeout.

That lead expanded to 20-14, forcing another Panther timeout after an ace.

Powell tightened the scoreline to end the set, but the Panthers fell 25-19.

The fourth set continued the trend, with the Panthers holding the advantage this time around with a 15-13 lead after a hit out by the Warriors.

Worland fought back and took an 18-16 lead on an ace, before the Panthers rallied and tied the score at 20 on a Kaedenze Carter ace.

“I think we did a much better job of controlling things on our side of the net during the match and our serves definitely helped with that,” Flitner said.

Autumn Kidd’s block gave Powell the lead, and a rotational error on the Warriors made it 22-20 and forced a timeout by the visitors.

Kidd once again pushed the Panthers closer to a win with a kill to make it 24-20 and force another timeout, and Powell finished with a 25-20 win after four hits by the Warriors.

Carter led the Panthers with 14 kills, 10 aces and added 15 digs. Graham led with 31 assists and added 12 digs, while Ava Teten led overall with 16 digs.

Floy also had 10 digs for the Panthers.

CHALLENGING FINAL WEEK

Powell now heads into the final week of the regular season, preparing for a number of challenges before the regional tournament next weekend in Pinedale.

The first test happens today (Tuesday) when the Panthers head on the road for a matchup against the Cody Fillies (28-2 overall, 8-0 3A West) at 6 p.m., before hosting Lovell (21-5-2 overall, 6-3 3A West) at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

“I think that our last regular season week will be a big challenge for us which will be nice to prepare us for regionals,” Flitner said. “The teams are all pretty close on this side and I think most games at regionals will be a tough battle for all teams.”

POWELL 3, WORLAND 1

(25-23, 25-15, 19-25, 25-20)

Total blocks then solo blocks in ()

Kills — Kaedenze Carter 14, Hali Hancock 8, Autumn Kidd 6, Kindyle Floy 6, Ava Brewer 6, Leah Graham 3, Ava Teten 2, Peyton Ott

Assists — Leah Graham 31, Kindyle Floy 5, Abigail Visocky 2

Digs — Ava Teten 16, Kaedenze Carter 15, Leah Graham 12, Kindyle Floy 10, Abigail Visocky 6, Autumn Kidd 2, Ava Brewer 1, Hali Hancock 1

Blocks — Autumn Kidd 1, Kindyle Floy 1, Hali Hancock 1, Kaedenze Carter .5, Ava Brewer .5

Aces — Kaedenze Carter 10, Ava Teten 4, Kindyle Floy 1, Leah Graham 1