Two different days of performance had the Powell Panther volleyball team splitting its four matchups at the Wyoming/Montana Border Wars, coming away with a 2-2 record.

The Panthers (6-3) began their weekend on Friday, matching up with Billings Central, a two-time defending state champion in its classification in Montana.

Powell battled in the first set to a 25-22 defeat, and was unable to find its footing fully in the final two sets, losing via sweep 25-19, 25-18.

After a long afternoon the Panthers matched up with Lockwood, battling in every set with the Lions.

Powell came up just short in the first two sets, losing 25-23, 27-25.

The Panthers rebounded in the next two sets, winning 25-19 in both to create a game five to decide the matchup.

Powell again battled, but came up short in the final set, losing 18-16.

Following a late night on Friday, Powell turned around to an early start on Saturday at 8 a.m. against Hardin.

The Panthers showed a renewed energy as they turned around and won the first two sets 25-16, 25-20.

“We adjusted the lineup a little bit from Friday to Saturday,” Panther volleyball coach Lesli Spencer said. “We were still missing Sydney [Spomer] due to her ankle injury so we moved some girls around a bit on Saturday.”

Powell lost the third set 26-24, before running away with the fourth set and putting away Hardin 25-11.

Spencer said coming away with that win early in the morning boosted the team’s confidence heading into the last match of the weekend.

Powell took on Park High School in their final match of the weekend, walking away with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-14 victory to sweep the final match and finish 2-2 on the weekend.

While focusing on the matchups at hand, the Panthers were able to get a look at key conference opponents in Worland, Lovell, Thermopolis and Lander.

Spencer said being able to see these opponents play early in the season was a plus with conference play set to start next weekend.

The Panthers will have to wait one more weekend before hosting a game, as they head on the road to Rawlins on Friday and Saturday to take part in a tournament.

Powell is slated to have Wheatland, Lyman and 3A newcomer Glenrock in their pool on Friday.

“It will be nice to see teams that we do not usually see,” Spencer said.

Matches on Saturday will be determined by results on Friday.

Spencer said she expects to have Spomer for about half the sets this weekend, and hopes the team will be able to work on a rotation they began working on in Riverton before she went down injured.

This will be the Panthers’ final tournament to start the season. They begin conference play next Friday in Thermopolis before their home opener on Saturday against Worland.