The Lady Panther Volleyball team began conference play the weekend of Sept. 14-15, taking on the Lander Lady Tigers away, and the Worland Lady Warriors on their home court the next day.

The Lady Panthers entered the weekend tied with Lander for a No. 5 ranking in the state, and they were eager to get a win and solidify their number five spot. PHS ended up sweeping both matches.

Against the Lady Tigers, the Lady Panthers came out strong starting off with several kills and ace serves. The lady Tigers had two outside hitters, who were given the majority of the sets and had most of the Tigers points. Once PHS set a good block, things started to go in a good direction for them, pulling ahead and winning the first set 25-22.

The second set was fairly close as well, ending with only a two point difference for the Lady Panthers to take the win 25-23. In the third set, the Lady Panthers came back with renewed intensity, dominating the third and winning 25-17.

“I think we played really well against Lander,” senior outside hitter Aubrie Stenerson said. “Once we got rid of the pregame jitters we worked really well together to get the win.”

Their 3-0 win over the Lady Tigers won them the No. 5 ranking in the state for 3A.

The next day, PHS has their first home game of the season against the Worland Lady Warriors who they had not seen yet in non-conference play. Worland had just suffered the loss of their star middle hitter, McKenna Butte, to a knee injury in the weeks before the match, which put the

Lady Panthers at an advantage.

The Lady Panthers came out with intensity against the Lady Warriors going on several serving runs and putting down several kills in the early minutes of the set. Powell took control early and won the first set 25-18.

The next two sets weren’t much different from the first with the Lady Panthers taking the wins 25-16 and 25-16.

“I think our communication was especially good in that game,” senior libero Ashtyn Heny said. “But I think we can definitely improve on our motivation going into games, we need to believe that we can win.”

These two games put them at a 2-0 record in conference play and a 9-6 overall record.

“I’m super excited about just growing as a team and playing our hearts out so we can hopefully make it to state this year,” Heny said.

The Lady Panthers took on the Billings West Golden Bears and the Lovell Bulldogs last week, falling to Billings 3-0 but bouncing back to sweep Lovell 3-0.

“I’m super excited to see how far we go this season,” Stenerson said. “Most of us have been playing together for our whole careers and I know we have a lot of potential.”