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By TYLER RALEY | Special to the Reporter

CHELSEA – The Chelsea Hornets are preparing to burst into the playoff picture in 2024 after some struggles against top talent last season.

The Hornets enter the fall campaign after a 21-20 showing in 2023 while also going 2-4 in Class 7A, Area 6.  Their season ended after a loss to Spain Park in the area tournament, and they now take on the battles that lie ahead in Class 6A.

Filled with talent and veteran leadership all over the floor, coach Jamie Gill is filled with optimism about what her team can do come game time.

“I love our team. We’re very talented, we’re very experienced,” Gill said. “I do feel like we’re approaching the season in a good place. I feel confident in my players and their skill. I do think that high volleyball IQ is something that we definitely have on our side because we’ve got seven seniors. I just want to take one game at a time and continue to work and develop.”

Having experience on the floor is a key to having success with any team. It’s especially crucial this year with the competition that Chelsea will have on its schedule.

The Hornets’ large senior class is led by Lauren Buchanan, a North-South All-Star who earned MVP honors at the summer festivities to pile on top of the All-State and All-Area honors the Texas Tech commit picked up as part of her junior campaign.

Buchanan will be tasked with pushing her teammates on both sides of the ball after a phenomenal junior campaign where she posted 526 kills, 78 assists, 218 digs and 35 blocks. Now she looks to build off of that with an even better stat line this year.

She will be joined by two other fellow 2023 All-County selections in middle hitter Kaleigh Hall and setter Cara Belcher as three players who can make the Hornets a tough out.

Having a number of veterans on the floor makes for great team chemistry, especially when the Chelsea seniors have been playing with each other for as long as they have. Gill believes that this bond is what is going to help the team reach new heights over the next few seasons.

“I think with (the seniors), they’ve all played together since sixth grade, and so they’re very close knit players, they’re not afraid to give feedback to each other,” Gill said. “They’re very vocal with the standards and expectations that we have for our team. They’re consistently in the background saying, ‘Hey, this is our expectation. We’re not going to not play to our best and we’re not going to take any reps off and whether the coaches say they’re watching or not, your best is what is expected.’ I think the seniors do a great job of holding the team and each other to that standard.”

With a new area schedule in Class 6A, Area 8 on the horizon, the Hornets will have a lot of common faces from the county popping up on their schedule, including Helena, Pelham and powerhouse Spain Park.

Gill sees a lot of similarity amongst the area, which is going to make this grouping stronger all across the board.

“The change from 6A to 7A isn’t a giant jump,” Gill said. “There’s a lot of talented teams that are in both groups. I don’t think many of us graduated a lot of girls and I think that’s what’s kind of unique about our area is that we’ve got a lot of experienced older teams that are matching up. Who’s going to be comfortable when the moments matter and we’ll just have to see how it shakes out when we get to that point.”

Those big moments will certainly be crucial in determining how successful this Chelsea squad is, and the composure that it has will be key to coming out on top.

“I think just calming down in those big moments when the end of the season comes,” Gill said. “I think that we’ve had the talent and the skill to win in those moments, but I think we need to trust our training and our teammates so we can calm down, take a deep breath and get it done at the end.”

Gill believes that the close relationships all over the team will be what helps her team during this campaign as the Hornets try to make a run to the playoffs and make some noise in crunch time. If they can, then they will be set up well for years to come.