Grant Union’s Layla Wenick gets set to serve during the Grant Union Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023 at Grant Union High School.

The 2023-24 fall sports season kicked off in Grant County with Grant Union High School hosting a volleyball tournament on Saturday, Aug. 26, in the first action of the year for many of the participating teams.

The Lady Panthers of Prairie City/Burnt River were the county’s top-finishing team, leaving the tournament with a 2-1 record. The Lady Panthers dispatched Dayville/Monument/Long Creek in short order, winning the match 2-0 via a pair of 25-7 game victories.

Prairie City/Burnt River then defeated hosts Grant Union 3-1 in a highly competitive matchup.

The Lady Panthers lost a 26-24 nail-biter to open the match.

Prairie would rebound and take the second game 25-17. The third game was just as competitive as the first, with the Lady Panthers emerging with a close 15-13 win to take the match from the Lady Prospectors.

Prairie City’s third and final match of the day was a 2-0 loss to Crane, which didn’t suffer a defeat in the tournament.

The first game was a 25-16 victory for the Lady Mustangs. The Lady Panthers regrouped during the second game, but while they kept the score close, they ultimately fell 27-25.

Hosts Grant Union played two more matches in addition to their match with Prairie City.

The first was a pool play match with Enterprise, which the Lady Pros won 2-0 with scores of 25-9 and 25-14. The second match was also in pool play and saw the Lady Pros tie Prairie City 1-1 with scores of 25-13 and 17-25. The second game between the two Grant County schools was a tournament contest, rather than a pool play matchup.

“It’s a great start to the season,” Grant Union head volleyball coach Mariah Moulton said. “Although we didn’t win our home opening tournament this year, we now know what we need to work on for our next competition and our girls are more driven to grind at practice to continue growing individually and as a team.”

Scores for Dayville/Monument/Long Creek’s pool play games were not available before press time. The Lady Tigers’ lone match in tournament play was their 0-2 defeat to Prairie City.

The Lady Prospectors were scheduled to get back onto the volleyball court on Tuesday, Aug. 29, when they were to visit Union for a non-league showdown. Tipoff for that match was scheduled for 4 p.m.

The Lady Tigers will be in action next on Thursday, Aug. 31, when they travel to Jordan Valley for a non-league matchup. Start time is slated for 5:30 p.m. Mountain time.

The Lady Panthers are also slated to be in action on Thursday as the hosts of the Prairie City Tournament. The team is scheduled to open the tourney against Harper Charter at 11 a.m.