A new season has dawned in a blistering Panther gymnasium as the Panther volleyball team kicked off its practices last week.

This year’s edition of the Panthers will feature a strong set of juniors and seniors, alongside a group of sophomores who are expected to be in the mix for varsity playing time.

“The team is really positive, we are looking forward to good things,” Panthers volleyball coach Lesli Spencer said. “Probably the best team atmosphere I have been around in awhile.”

After only losing two seniors to last year’s squad, the Panthers will feature an All-State returnee in junior Addy Thorington, who made the leap last year after finishing with 246 kills and 60 solo blocks.

In addition to Thorington, the Panthers will return seniors Sydney Spomer, Gretel Opps and Anna Bartholomew to the court this year.

Spomer returns as an outside hitter for the Panthers, while Opps will feature as the primary setter for Powell.

Bartholomew has moved into the middle for the Panthers this season after playing on the outside in the past.

“We moved Anna [Bartholomew] inside during the spring and she has really blossomed in that position,” Spencer said. “We think we found her home, wishing we had found it sooner, but she has been coming along great in that.”

On top of that the Panthers will return additional juniors who have varsity experience, hoping for a push towards a state tournament berth this season.

Powell gets little time to rest after a long first week of practice, heading to Riverton to take part in the Riverton Invitational this weekend on Friday and Saturday.

Spencer is hoping that the team will be able to find a rotation during this first weekend of competition, despite the team splitting up into varsity and junior varsity for the two days.

She said that once conference and regular games come into play the Panthers will be using a deep rotation throughout the season.

No starting times or opponents have been announced for the invitational.