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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers came out victorious in their third straight area match, and for the third straight match, they had to work for the win.

After narrowly dropping the first set to their rivals, the Helena Huskies, Pelham rallied to win the next three sets to take the match 3-1 on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at Pelham High School.

With the win, the Panthers are now 3-0 in area play, solidifying their grip on the Class 6A, Area 8 standings in the race for area tournament hosting rights.

The two teams fought hard down the stretch in the first set and found themselves in a 24-24 deadlock. Pelham and Helena traded the next four points before the Huskies took control by winning back-to-back points to go up 28-26.

That gave the opening set to Helena to put it up 1-0 in the match, giving it an opening to potentially win its first area match of the season.

The Panthers surged back in the second set and pulled away to establish a commanding lead, one that they would hold on to through the end of the set.

Pelham took the second set 25-10 to tie up the match and reclaim the momentum.

Powered by that victory, the Panthers remained in front in the third set. While the Huskies made the set closer than the second, they were unable to close the gap.

Pelham finished out the third set and won 25-16 to put Helena’s back against the wall with a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Huskies fought hard in the fourth set as they sought to extend the match. Only a few points separated the rivals as the set entered the final moments with the Panthers hoping to secure their third straight area win.

In the end, Pelham saw out the 25-22 win to take the match victory in four sets and continue their winning ways in area play.

The Panthers improved to 22-6 with the win and will now look to finish off area play on top with a trio of road games, starting with a rematch against Chelsea on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m.

Helena, now 11-6, will have a break before its next area match on Sept. 26. In the meantime, it will host Gulf Shores and Hewitt-Trussville in a tri-match on Thursday, Sept. 19 before competing in the HeffStrong Tournament at Hoover’s Finley Center from Sept. 20-21.