For the first time in four years the Powell High School volleyball team has advanced to the state tournament after finishing third at the 3A West Regional tournament in Lovell on Friday and Saturday.

POWELL 3, PINEDALE 1

Kicking off the weekend as the No. 1 seed out of the northwest, the Panthers (22-9-1) got the chance to face off with the No. 4 seed out of the southwest in the Pinedale Wranglers (18-17).

Match play did not start out ideally for Powell, with Pinedale taking advantage of early momentum and taking the first set 25-20.

“We keep talking about stepping on the court to play and they struggle with that sometimes,” coach Lesli Spencer said. “Part of their growth this year is taking it one point at a time.”

Powell rebounded in the second set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead and building from there and eventually taking the set 25-15 to tie the match 1-1.

The third set started out close between the two teams until Powell pushed a small lead out to 18-11 — creating enough separation between the Wranglers and Panthers for Powell to win the third set 25-15.

In the fourth, the two teams battled throughout until the match was tied at 17.

Powell took a small lead at 20-18 before a Pinedale timeout.

The Wranglers came out and battled once again, but serves into the net were their undoing — allowing the Panthers to win the fourth set 25-21.

“They were able to come out and put it away in the next three sets which is a big deal after losing that first set,” Spencer said.

That victory was led in part by 17 kills from Addy Thorington, 19 assists from Gretel Opps and 16 digs by Alexa Richardson.

The victory meant Powell advanced to a semifinal matchup in the afternoon, coming up against southwest No. 2 seed Lyman.

LYMAN 3, POWELL 0

Heading into Friday night the Panthers had an opportunity to lock up a state qualifying spot with a win against the Eagles (31-5-1) in the semifinals.

In the first set the two teams battled, but a late run by the Eagles gave Lyman the victory 25-22.

In the second set the Panthers could not find any answers to an early push from the Eagles, losing 25-15 — giving Lyman a 2-0 lead.

Lyman continued to carry its momentum, taking an early lead and holding Powell at arms length to win 25-18 to complete the sweep.

“We played a little flat, nobody was really on fire,” Spencer said. “Everybody was a step or two down from where we needed to be to compete with Lyman.”

POWELL 3, LANDER 0

After the loss on Friday, Powell took time to regroup and recover before taking on Lander (9-21-1) Saturday afternoon with a state tournament berth on the line.

“We had the conversation of when you beat someone and you meet them again then you really need to focus on what you need to do,” Spencer said. “We came out with a game plan on who we wanted to serve and we know Lander pretty well so we did what we needed to do.”

Starting out the match, the Panthers came out with a purpose and focus, jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the first set and never looking back in a 25-7 first set victory.

That carried over into the second set, with Powell building from a 10-5 lead and winning 25-11 to take a 2-0 lead.

Needing one more set to advance to state and Lander fighting for its season, the third set was a battle to the last point.

The match was tied at 19 late, as the teams exchanged small runs and timeouts with Powell holding a 23-22 lead.

The Panthers held off any late rally, winning 25-23 and advancing to the state tournament for the first time since 2018.

“It’s big for the girls to know how to win,” Spencer said. “Winning is the expectation now and we have crossed that bridge — it’s not something that is intangible and they have figured it out.”

POWELL 3, WORLAND 0

Just 30 minutes separated the Panthers from the third place game against northwest No. 3 seed Worland (14-18-1) who wrapped up its berth earlier in the day against host Lovell (14-16-1).

That short break did not make Powell’s play slow down from its dominating performance against Lander, with the Panthers coming out and winning the first set 25-19.

An early lead built to 12-5 allowed Powell to cruise in the second set and claim another 25-19 victory.

“I was proud of the girls, they stepped out ready to go and win that third position — there was no doubt we deserved to be there and they did that on Saturday,” Spencer said.

Looking for a second sweep of Worland on the season, Powell built a large lead in the third set — with a late Warrior run closing the gap, but the Panthers finished the match with a 25-20 victory to claim third place.

STATE TOURNAMENT

Powell now heads down to the Ford Wyoming Center to take part in the Wyoming 3A State Volleyball Tournament starting on Thursday.

The first matchup for the Panthers will be the No. 2 seed out of the east in Douglas (22-14) at approximately 4:30 p.m.

That matchup will not be unfamiliar to the Panthers, as Douglas defeated Powell earlier in the season at the Rawlins tournament 2-1.

“Our block is going to be key against Douglas,” Spencer said. 

According to Spencer, this will be a lot of the Panthers’ first time at the events center in Casper, but said club experience for most of the team at Volleyfest in Billings will hopefully help ensure the environment is not too overwhelming.

If the Panthers win they will advance to the semifinal round on Friday at 4:30 p.m. to take on the winner of Mountain View (32-4-1) and Buffalo (20-13-1).

If Powell loses, it will drop to the consolation bracket on Friday at 1 p.m. 

POWELL 3, PINEDALE 1

Kills — Addy Thorington 17, Saige Kidd 8, Anna Bartholomew 5, Waycee Harvey 4, Gretel Opps 2, Sydney Spomer 2, Stevee Walsh 1

Assists — Gretel Opps 19, Stevee Walsh 12, Alexa Richardson 2, Mikayla Graham 2, Addy Thorington 2, Anna Bartholomew 1, Saige Kidd 1

Digs — Alexa Richardson 16, Mikayla Graham 14, Addy Thorington 11, Stevee Walsh 8, Sydney Spomer 7, Gretel Opps 6, Anna Bartholomew 3, Waycee Harvey 1

Aces — Stevee Walsh 3, Anna Bartholomew 3, Alexa Richardson 1, Gretel Opps 1, Mikayla Graham 1, Addy Thorington 1

Blocks — Waycee Harvey 2, Anna Bartholomew 1.5, Gretel Opps 1, Addy Thorington 1, Saige Kidd .5

LYMAN 3, POWELL 0

Kills — Addy Thorington 9, Waycee Harvey 4, Anna Bartholomew 3, Sydney Spomer 3, Saige Kidd 2

Assists — Gretel Opps 10, Stevee Walsh 8

Digs — Mikayla Graham 15, Alexa Richarson 13, Addy Thorington 12, Stevee Walsh 10, Gretel Opps 6, Saige Kidd 3, Sydney Spomer 2, Anna Bartholomew 1, Waycee Harvey 1

Aces — Gretel Opps 1

Blocks — Anna Bartholomew 2, Sydney Spomer 1, Gretel Opps .5, Waycee Harvey .5, Gracie Trotter .5, Addy Thorington .5

POWELL 3, LANDER 0

Kills — Addy Thorington 10, Saige Kidd 8, Waycee Harvey 7, Sydney Spomer 6, Anna Bartholomew 4, Alexa Richardson 1, Stevee Walsh 1, Gretel Opps 1

Assists — Gretel Opps 26, Stevee Walsh 7, Alexa Richardson 1, Sydney Spomer 1, Addy Thorington 1

Digs — Addy Thorington 16, Alexa Richardson 14, Mikayla Graham 6, Stevee Walsh 5, Anna Bartholomew 5, Gretel Opps 5, Waycee Harvey 3, Sydney Spomer 3

Aces — Gretel Opps 3, Addy Thorington 3, Anna Bartholomew 2, Mikayla Graham 2, Alexa Richardson 1

Blocks — Addy Thorington 1.5, Anna Bartholomew .5, Gretel Opps .5, Waycee Harvey .5

POWELL 3, WORLAND 0

Kills — Saige Kidd 12, Sydney Spomer 8, Addy Thorington 8, Waycee Harvey 7, Gretel Opps 2, Alexa Richardson 1, Anna Bartholomew 1, Catelynn Floy 1

Assists — Gretel Opps 21, Stevee Walsh 10, Gracie Trotter 1, Addy Thorington 1

Digs — Alexa Richardson 10, Gretel Opps 9, Mikayla Graham 9, Addy Thorington 8, Stevee Walsh 4, Anna Bartholomew 2, Sydney Spomer 2, Saige Kidd 1

Aces — Mikayla Graham 2, Gretel Opps 1, Addy Thorington 1

Blocks — Waycee Harvey 2, Anna Bartholomew .5, Saige Kidd .5, Gretel Opps .5