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In a tightly-fought match that saw unbelievable action on both sides, the Pelham Panthers held on to beat the Chelsea Hornets in the opening match of Class 6A, Area 8 play. (For the Reporter/Tracy Wood Franklin)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – With the pressure mounting on all sides throughout their opening area match against the Chelsea Hornets, Pelham coach Perry Robinson had a simple message for his team: just take it one point at a time.

“Focus on what the next point is,” Robinson said. “Keep it simple and just play one point at a time.”

It may have been easier said than done in a match that started with a 31-29 first set and ended with an 11-point Chelsea service run on match point, but the Pelham Panthers won enough points to take the 3-1 win on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Pelham High School, and that’s all that matters to them.

“In this area, that’s a big deal,” Robinson said. “That’s all I can say about that. This area is going to be like that. I think all four teams every night, home and away, I think they’re all going to look pretty similar.”

The teams were locked up through the opening points before Chelsea won five straight points with Lauren Buchanan on the serve to take an 8-3 lead.

Pelham surged back to take a 12-11 lead off a Camryn McMinn kill, and the two sides went back and forth until a pair of Hornets points gave them a 21-19 lead going into a timeout.

While a hitting error put Chelsea on set point at 24-22, the Hornets gave the ball up off a service error. The Panthers then won a long rally to tie up the set at 24-24.

The teams traded blows from there during a high-tension series of extra points as Pelham’s front line was repeatedly stymied by the Chelsea block.

The Panthers found themselves on the back foot with a 29-28 deficit, but a crucial call along the back line was reversed, tying up the set at 29-29.

That was the window Pelham needed as a McMinn kill put the Panthers on set point and the Hornets hit the ball out to seal the 31-29 first-set win for the hosts.

The second set started out the same as the first with Chelsea winning four straight points after a 3-3 tie to take a 7-3 lead. However, while Pelham rallied early to tie the first set, that didn’t happen in set No. 2 and the Hornets extended their lead to 18-11.

That’s when the Panthers made their move. With Kylee Hester on the serve, Pelham trimmed the deficit to 18-16 before another back-and-forth stretch ensued.

Buchanan then got a kill to make the lead 23-20, which helped Chelsea get to set point immediately afterwards. McMinn briefly stalled the momentum with a kill, but Kaleigh Hall got a kill of her own off the side out to give the Hornets the 25-21 win.

It was Pelham’s turn to start out strong in the third set with three straight points to open proceedings. Chelsea responded by taking a 7-5 lead before the Panthers tied it up at 9-9 by getting one past the block.

The Hornets took the next point but Pelham won the next six, giving the Panthers a 15-10 lead that they would never relinquish.

Chelsea did make a run on set point after a dump kicked off four straight points for the Hornets, including a pair of Pelham miscues tacked on at the end of that run.

After Chelsea’s side out kill to end the third set, Londyn Wynn got one of her own to give her team the 25-19 set win and the 2-1 lead in the match.

Just like the first two sets, the third set opened with an even 3-3 tie, but three straight points for the Panthers gave way to a massive run that put them up 20-11.

While the Hornets fought back over the next few points, McMinn sent a shot to the back row to put Pelham up 24-14 and just one point away from ending the match.

That match point kill would have to wait as Chelsea surged back with a wild last stand.

Hall got a kill to give the serve to Cara Belcher, and after the Panthers had a pair of mistakes on the next two points, she secured an ace to force a timeout with the score at 24-18.

Chelsea won the next point after the timeout, and a Hall block and back-to-back Belcher aces put the Hornets down just 24-22, leading to another Pelham timeout.

Wynn’s shot then went just over the back line, and Chelsea got another block to force extra points.

The Hornets then took the 25-24 lead to get within a point of forcing a fifth set. However, their run of 11 straight points ended off a mishit, tying the match up at 25-25.

Chelsea then hit a ball out to put the Panthers back on match point, and this time, they got the job done. Pelham snuck a ball past the Hornets block to take the 27-25 victory and win the match in four sets.

The Panthers front line had a massive evening with Wynn securing 25 kills, three total blocks and 14 digs and McMinn earning 23 kills, two solo blocks and 12 digs.

Hester had 48 assists and 12 digs, Kamryn Rouveyrol earned a team-high 20 digs, Kaliyah Arrington racked up five total blocks, including two solo blocks and Aubrie Smith finished with six kills.

Chelsea’s offense was led by Buchanan’s 27 kills to go with her 15 digs. Belcher secured 44 assists, a game-high 22 digs and three aces. Reagan Sartin earned 20 digs, Payton Walker ended the night with nine digs and Sophia Bagley had eight digs.

Hall, Alexis Rudolph and Presley Durham made up the potent Hornets block as Hall had six total blocks, including four solo blocks, Rudolph assisted on four blocks and Durham helped on three blocks. Rudolph also earned eight kills and three aces.

Pelham will look to improve to 2-0 in area play when they host the Spain Park Jaguars on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.

As for Chelsea, it will also return home on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. to face the Helena Huskies in a battle of 0-1 teams in Class 6A, Area 8.

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