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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HELENA – After losing a tight five-set match to the Mountain Brook Spartans on Monday, Oct. 7, the Chelsea Hornets had little time to rest as they hit the road for their final area match of the season the next day.

There, they faced a county foe in the Helena Huskies, a team that was looking for momentum going into the area tournament after losing their last match out against the Pelham Panthers.

Chelsea got the bounce-back performance it was looking for in a commanding 3-0 win in straight sets over Helena on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at Helena High School.

The Hornets got off to a strong start in the match as they took command of the opening frame by claiming the lead.

Chelsea went on to win the first set 25-19, and that set the tone for the rest of the match.

The Hornets kept rolling in the second set as they used their advantage to claim another set victory.

Chelsea nearly won the second set by an identical scoreline to the first, but the Hornets left the Huskies with one less point than the opening set and claimed a 25-18 victory.

That gave Chelsea a commanding 2-0 lead in the match, and it didn’t let off the gas pedal from there.

Helena got a couple of points closer to the lead down the stretch of the third set, but the team was unable to challenge for the set win.

The Hornets saw out the 3-0 match victory thanks to a 25-20 win in the third set.

Chelsea will wrap up the regular season with their final home game against the Homewood Patriots on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. at Chelsea High School, finishing off a run of three matches in three days.

As for Helena, it will close the regular season at home as well as it takes on the McAdory Yellow Jackets on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

After that, both teams will hit the road to Pelham for the Class 6A, Area 8 tournament. The No. 4 Huskies will battle the No. 1 Pelham Panthers in the semifinals on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 2:30 p.m. at Pelham High School.

Chelsea will face Spain Park in the other area semifinal immediately following the Pelham-Helena match.