After another long weekend on the court the Powell Panther volleyball team took third in the silver bracket at the Sandy Jebens Invitational in Rawlins, taking on a number of 3A East teams in the process.

Starting out the weekend the Panthers (11-7-1) took on Torrington (5-5-2 overall, 1-0 3A East) as the two teams battled to a draw with sets of 19-21 and 21-15.

Powell followed that up with another matchup against an eastern conference opponent, this time defeating Buffalo (3-13) 21-18, 21-14.

The Panthers ended the day with a 3A West opponent, falling to Mountain View (9-10-1) 21-8, 21-16.

Over the past several weeks the Panthers have had to deal with injuries to their rotation at times, something coach Anna Flitner said the team has been able to adjust to, while the injured Panthers have done a great job of supporting their teammates.

“We have had a few injuries that have led us to switching up our rotation several times,” Flitner said. “I’ve been proud of how the girls have adjusted to some changes, especially to make adjustments mid-set. I am really hoping that we can get healthy and stay healthy within the upcoming weeks. It’s always tough watching kids that really want to play have to sit out, but they’ve done a great job supporting their teammates and working hard on their rehab to get back out on the court.”

Following the Friday results the Panthers saw themselves in the silver bracket, after Torrington had managed a tie against Mountain View and advanced to the gold bracket alongside the Buffalos.

Powell started with a win over Wheatland (5-11-1) 21-18, 16-21, 15-10 before falling to Burns (7-10) in the semifinal 21-10, 21-11.

The Panthers ended the weekend with a victory over the host Outlaws (1-12) 24-22, 21-11.

“It’s always nice to see the eastern conference teams since we rarely get to see them the rest of the regular season,” Flitner said. “As a coach and a spectator, watching Cody and Douglas play was a lot of fun. Props to those teams and their coaches — they are playing a high level of volleyball that I will continue to look forward to watching this season.”

Following the conclusion of the Rawlins tournament, Flitner said the Panthers have learned a lot as their regular season tournaments have come to a close and the team heads into the remainder of the regular season.

“I think we have learned that we have some really great moments and there are other times where we struggle a bit mentally to get out of ruts,” Flitner said. “I think we have learned we need to understand how to best support each other when things aren’t going our way. There will be those moments throughout the season when we have a team without a ton of previous varsity experience — it’s inevitable, but we have to figure out how to work through them.”

Now that the Panthers are done with their regular season tournaments there will only be one instance where they will play multiple games in a day at the conference duals in October, as Flitner is hopeful the Panthers can get healthy with less games each week.

“I think it will be nice to get into a routine with tournaments being over,” Flitner said. “Hopefully that leads to greater chances of us staying healthy and increased focus on what we have to do each match and adjustments we need to make for specific teams.”

Powell doesn’t have much time to dwell on the results of this past weekend, as the Panthers head on the road today (Tuesday) to take on Worland (7-3-2) in the first conference match of the season.

“From what I have seen, Worland looks like a scrappy team. I think they are young as well,” Flitner said. “I am hoping after this weekend, we will be a little more comfortable with some unique rotations that we will be running due to injuries and that we can bounce back a little faster when we are struggling.”

That match is set for a 6 p.m. start, and the Panthers will have their first home game of the season on Thursday night against Rocky Mountain (10-4) also with a 6 p.m. start.