Every 3A team converged on Rawlins for a two-day volleyball tournament on Friday and Saturday, leaving more questions statewide than answers as the Powell volleyball team finished 2-2-1. The Panthers improved from last year in reaching the top bracket following an undefeated finish in pool play. 

POOL PLAY

Heading into the tournament, the No. 4-ranked Panthers (8-5-1) got an early test matching up with No. 1 Lyman (17-2-1) to kick off pool play at the tournament.

Powell came out strong in the first set of the match, pushing past the defending state champions to take the opening set on the day 21-17.

Lyman battled back in the second set, helping the Eagles secure a tie on the day with a 21-9 second set victory.

“Taking a set off of Lyman was a big deal, we played them tough,” Panther volleyball coach Lesli Spencer said.

After a short break the Panthers came up against 3A newcomers Glenrock (2-15) where the Panthers took control early through strong attacking play.

Powell won the match in straight sets 21-14, 21-11 to set up a key match against Wheatland in the final match of pool play.

In the Glenrock match, the Panthers finished with 22 kills — led in part by three Panthers who finished with greater than .400 attacking percentage. Addy Thorington led the way with eight kills, followed by Sydney Spomer with five and Saige Kidd with four.

Gretel Opps led the Panthers with 15 assists in the two set match.

Finishing out pool play on Friday, the Panthers matched up with No. 5 Wheatland (12-7) with the winner advancing to the gold bracket on Saturday.

Powell came out strong, winning the match in straight sets 21-14, 21-16.

The Panthers outhit the Bulldogs 20-15, but were able to pull away by only committing nine hitting errors to Wheatland’s 14.

Thorington again led the way with 13 kills on a .440 attacking percentage, while Stevee Walsh finished with nine digs, Alexa Richardson finished with five and Anna Bartholomew had four.

After the loss, Wheatland went on to win the silver bracket of the tournament.

GOLD BRACKET

One year removed from the same Rawlins tournament, where the Panthers were battling in the silver bracket on Saturday, this time the Panthers were able to advance to the gold bracket after not losing in pool play.

Following a strong day of play, the Panthers came up against another difficult opponent in Douglas (12-6) in the quarterfinal match.

Powell came out like Friday, grinding out a 21-12 first set victory.

Douglas came back, winning the second set 21-13 and setting up a decisive third set.

The two teams battled past the required 15 points to win, with Douglas edging out the Panthers 18-16 in the third set to advance.

“In the first set we struggled but did just enough to win,” Spencer said. “We just kind of struggled with our serve-receive and hitting.”

Both teams played an even match, with Powell committing a couple more errors overall to give Douglas the victory. Douglas advanced to the championship game where they placed second.

After the loss Powell dropped down to the consolation semifinals, matching up against another newcomer to 3A in Moorcroft (9-8-1).

Four errors on serves compared to no aces, along with five errors on receptions to Moorcroft’s zero allowed Moorcroft to take advantage and win the match in straight sets 21-15, 21-17.

“They (Moorcroft) are scrappy, keep the ball in play and wait for you to make a mistake,” Spencer said. “You win a lot of high school volleyball games that way.”

CONFERENCE PLAY

Powell now hopes to settle into more of a normal routine, kicking off conference play this weekend.

Heading into these matchups, Spencer is hoping that the team will work on continuing to find the court on hitting and serving.

The Panthers travel to Thermopolis (2-9) at 6 p.m. Friday. Thermopolis won the silver consolation bracket in Rawlins.

The Bobcats are a newcomer to the 3A Northwest, after transferring over from the 3A Northeast this season to drop Lander down to the southwest to balance out the quadrants.

After Friday’s match, the Panthers finally come home to take on the Worland Warriors (5-4-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the home opener for Powell.

“Tournaments are hard,” Spencer said. “I am hoping that this Friday and Saturday with normal sets will help us try and find our groove and move into our normal season.”

Worland placed third in the silver bracket in Rawlins.