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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – After dropping their area opener to Oak Mountain on Thursday, Sept. 7, the Chelsea Hornets entered their home match against the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies looking for their first area win of the season.

Luckily for the Hornets, they had generated some solid momentum in the week since their last area match, as Chelsea took four wins between the Rocky Top Classic and a tri-match with Helena and Tuscaloosa County.

Chelsea used that to overcome a tight fight from Hewitt-Trussville to take the match 3-1.

Chelsea opened up the match strong, and the Hornets established a solid lead thanks to Cara Belcher’s run of 11 straight points on the service line.

The Hornets went on to win the set, 25-15, which put them up 1-0 in the match.

In the second set, the Huskies bounced back and gave Chelsea a battle. Hewitt-Trussville had the upper hand at the end, and it closed out the set with a win as a result.

Hewitt-Trussville tied up the match at one set win each thanks to the Huskies’ 25-19 win in the second set.

The Hornets responded well in the third set and regained control of the match after dropping the second set. Chelsea flipped the result from the previous set and took the frame, 25-19, which gave the Hornets a 2-1 lead to take into the fourth set.

Now with a chance to close out the match in the fourth set, Chelsea performed well in the set, but the Hornets faced stiff competition from the Huskies, who sought to send the match to a fifth and final set.

The fourth set fight eventually became the tightest set in the match, but Chelsea held on in the end to take the set, 25-20, which also gave the Hornets the 3-1 match win.

Lauren Buchanan led Chelsea’s offense with 22 kills while earning a +.314 hitting percentage. She also led the Hornets with four aces from the service line.

Over on defense, Buchanan and Kaleigh Hall each earned three total blocks, and Haley Trotter and Lil Willett both earned a pair of blocks to round out a solid day at the net for the Hornets. Sophia Bagley led the team in digs with 13, followed by Reagan Sartin’s 10 and Belcher’s nine.

Assist duties were split between MK Dojonovic and Belcher, who racked up 19 and 17 assists, respectively for Chelsea.

Coming up next for the Hornets, they will travel to Spain Park in another area matchup on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m.