Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Chelsea Hornets secured another key victory in the race for positioning within Class 6A, Area 8, this time on the road in statement-making fashion.

Chelsea swept their county foes the Spain Park Jaguars 3-0 on the road on Tuesday, Sept. 17 for its second straight win in area play.

The match also brought a milestone for one of the Hornets’ mainstays. Senior setter Cara Belcher surpassed 1,000 assists for her career after entering the match needing 14 to reach the milestone.

The Hornets started out the match strong as they got the better of the Jags in the opening set and went on to take the win in the set.

Chelsea’s 25-18 first-set win put the visitors up early in the match and paved the way for them to take the next two sets.

That didn’t mean Spain Park made it easy for them. The Jags responded well to make the second set a tight affair, one that came down to the very end in extra points.

After splitting the first pair of extra points, the Hornets won the next two points to take the second set 27-25.

That increased Chelsea’s lead in the match to 2-0 and put it just one set win away from walking away with another area win.

While Spain Park remained close in the third set, the Hornets seized the opportunity to close out the match and finished as strong as they started.

Chelsea won the third set 25-20 to earn the 3-0 sweep, and that moved the Hornets past the Jags in the area standings with a new record of 2-1 in Area 8 matches.

Chelsea also moved to 12-7 on the season with the victory and will now head home in hopes of avenging its long area loss to the Pelham Panthers on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m.

As for Spain Park, it dropped to 17-6 in 2024 with a 1-2 mark in area play. The Jags will need to wait until Sept. 24 to get revenge against Chelsea in their next area match, but in the meantime, they will host the HeffStrong Tournament from Sept. 20-21 at the Finley Center in Hoover.