Welcoming in a pair of Sweetwater County opponents to Powell on Monday and Tuesday, the Powell High School girls’ tennis team earned a pair of team wins 3-2 over Green River and Rock Springs while the boys’ tennis team fell 4-1 to Green River before beating Rock Springs 4-1.

GIRLS

POWELL 3, GREEN RIVER 2

Kicking off the year Monday afternoon the Panthers welcomed in the Wolves, with close battles happening throughout the lineup.

The most dominant win for the Panthers came at No. 1 singles, where Naomi Whipple cruised past Sydney Lopez 6-0, 6-1.

Bailee Allred fell in a close match at No. 2 singles, losing in straight sets to Brynley Beutel 7-5, 6-4.

“She’s just continued to work on her game and show better awareness of where she is on the court,” coach Joe Asay said. “She really battled and played good tennis against a good opponent.”

Powell picked up a win at No. 1 doubles, as Kyra Morrow and Isabelle Urbach defeated Alexia Britton and Amanda Davis 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).

The Panthers secured the win at No. 2 doubles, as Elaina Kousoulos and Noelle Leighton held on in a three set match against Savery English and Meghan Thomas 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 before a super tiebreaker win 10-7 instead of a full third set.

At No. 3 doubles, Katarina Reitz and Aubrey Bear fell against Emma Johnson and Rylie Caldwell 6-2, 6-0 to make the final team score 3-2 in favor of Powell.

POWELL 3, ROCK SPRINGS 2

Against the Tigers on Tuesday the Panthers had their fair share of quality matches, with Whipple again leading the way at No. 1 singles, this time pulling off two 6-0 sets against Addie Aanerud.

“She just executed everything really well. A wide variety of shots, good placement with her serves. She just ran through both of those matches with total control,” Asay said. “She’s playing great tennis already.”

Allred picked up her first win of the season earning a win against Aydin Hood 6-0, 6-2.

Morrow and Urbach came up short against Broelynn Harris and Sophie Pugmire at No. 1 doubles 7-5, 6-2.

Kousoulos, this time alongside Emily Jensen, picked up the win at No. 2 doubles, battling back from an opening set loss against Emery Punches and Tahlia Knudsen to get the victory 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

“Great evidence of somebody (Kousoulos) that is a good teammate, good partner and understands the game. So regardless of who she’s out there battling with, she can find some success and battle through the tough spots and come out on top,” Asay said. “It was really great to give Noelle that opportunity to play in that two position (Monday). Then it was good to see Emily come in. Definitely a slow start, a little tentative, and then seeing those same executed shots as they got into the second and third sets starting to hit better.”

Leighton battled alongside Leah Pittman but came up just short in two sets, falling in tiebreakers against Sheiley Zancanella and Bella Bear 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-2).

BOYS

GREEN RIVER 4, POWELL 1

Starting out their season against the Wolves, the Panther boys saw some close matches lead to some difficult losses, but the team was able to learn early on with several players getting their first ever varsity experience.

Nathan Preator started strong at No. 1 singles, winning 6-0, 6-3 against Dylan Archibald.

“Nathan plays with just such a great level of maturity,” Asay said. “He was just very patient. He knew when to take the right shots at the right time … It’s fun to see him continuing to get out there and compete.”

Calvin Opps kept things close at No. 2 singles, but came up short against Aiden Neher 6-4, 6-4.

Ryan Barrus and Memphis Solberg were unable to overcome Tanner Hokanion and Kaiden Dodson 6-3, 6-2.

Kazdyn Lee and Isaac Dunsey fell against Lucas Arnold and Kaiden Olson 6-0, 6-2 in No. 2 doubles, while Jonathan Clark and Josh Waite fell against Ethan Bundy and Blaise Taylor at No. 3 doubles 6-2, 7-5.

POWELL 4, ROCK SPRINGS 1

Against the Tigers on Tuesday morning the Panthers found a lot more success, once again starting with Preator at No. 1 singles. He didn’t drop a game against Carson Jenkins with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep.

Opps earned the win at No. 2 singles, defeating Gentry Swafford 6-2, 6-2.

“Settled in is a great way to put it,” Asay said. “Maybe just a little bit of nerves kind of making it difficult to make some of the shots that he and we know that he can make (Monday). Then really settling in well on Tuesday to then bring out his game and have some good success.”

Barrus and Solberg rebounded for a win against Jaxon Wheatley and Clint Copsey at No. 1 doubles, 6-1, 6-0.

Lee and Dunsey survived in a three set contest against Trace Walker and Dax Ogden, winning the first set 6-2, losing the second set 4-6 before winning the third set in a tiebreak 7-6 (7-2).

Clark and Waite battled back after an opening set loss to Will Carlson and Matthew Wren, losing 3-6, winning the second set 7-6 (7-5) before losing the final set 3-6.

CAMPBELL COUNTY TRIP

The Panthers continue their early season swing, heading to Gillette on Saturday.

Powell starts its conference matches against Campbell County at 10 a.m. before taking on Thunder Basin at 2 p.m.

“We always end up with some really good matches over in Gillette,” Asay said. “It’ll be fun to get this week going where we can now spend a little time talking through some strategy and addressing some of the things that we saw on Monday and Tuesday.”