By GRAHAM CARR / Staff Writer

CHELSEA-Chelsea coach Jamie Gill said her team was excited about senior night and it showed as the Hornets defeated Pinson Valley High School 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19) on Oct. 4.

Before the match, Chelsea honored seniors Holly Marbut and Sabrina Williams.

Gill did see things the Hornets need to work on though.

“We struggled on service receive every once and a while, but we passed well,” Gill said.

The Hornets were led by junior Courtney Campbell with five aces, two digs, six kills, and 24 assists.   Marbut added nine kills while freshman Madison Turner added 10 kills and 22 digs.

Chelsea used a 6-1 run in the first set to break open a 6-6 tie into a 12-7 lead.  The Hornets led 18-12 before Pinson Valley went on a 5-0 run to close the gap to 18-17.  Chelsea recovered and put the set away on a 7-1 run.

Chelsea never trailed the second set jumping to a 12-5 lead and fighting back a late Pinson Valley rally to win 25-19.

Chelsea started slow in the third set allowing Pinson Valley to jump to a 3-0 lead.  The Hornets recovered going on a 6-0 run to take a 6-3 lead, but Pinson Valley fought back to tie it at 6.  Pinson Valley then went on a 6-2 run to lead 12-8.  The Hornets rallied to tie the set at 15, but Pinson Valley finished strong with a 10-4 run to win the set.

In the final set, Chelsea leaped out to a 9-4 lead. Pinson Valley got as close as 12-10, but the Hornets used a 9-3 run to extend their lead to 21-13.  Pinson Valley used a 5-0 run to make things interesting at 21-18, but the run came too late as Chelsea pulled away to win 25-19.