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Chelsea continued an impressive season thus far with a sweep of the Calera Eagles on Tuesday, Sept. 10, to pick up their second area win of the season. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – The Chelsea Hornets continued their stellar 2019 season on Tuesday, Sept. 10, with their second consecutive sweep to start area play, moving to 2-0 in area play and 17-1 overall this season.

The Hornets built off a five-match win streak and a recent sweep of area foe Helena when they took the floor against the Calera Eagles, and again, they made it look easy with their 16th sweep of the season.

Early in the first set, Chelsea was able to grab a quick 5-3 lead despite Calera getting the first serve, but it’s what happened after that lead that became the difference in the opening set.

After earning the serve back, the Hornets were able to put together 10-0 run that saw them pull ahead 17-3. The rest of the set was back and forth, but the Hornets eventually put away a 25-13 first-set victory after garnering that big lead to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.

In the second set, it was a fast start thanks to the serve of Bailey Drew McIntyre, as she helped the Hornets take an early 5-0 lead. Shortly after, up 9-3, the Hornets put together another strong run to take a 12-3 advantage, and again that was too much of a deficit for the Eagles to overcome.

Chelsea went on to win its second consecutive set by a final score of 25-13 to take a 2-0 match lead.

With Calera now in a deep hole having to win three consecutive sets to claim the match, it was tough for the Eagles to bounce back in the third set, which led to the Hornets putting together their best set of the night.

Chelsea put together another strong service game in the set, holding serve for the majority of the set for a 25-9 third-set victory to close out the match by a final score of 3-0.

Victoria Schmer highlighted the strong service game with five aces and just one error in 22 serving attempts. McIntyre also had a strong service game with four aces and one error in 18 attempts, while Zoe LaBreche and Anna Sartin added two aces apiece.

Schmer also led the team with 13 digs, while Hope Wright added seven. In addition to those two, McIntyre and LaBreche added five digs, while four others had two. McIntyre also continued a strong season in the assist category with a match-high 36.

LaBreche and Wright were the leaders in kills with 12 and 10 respecitvely, while Amay Rudolph added nine. In addition to those three, McIntyre, Mya Bernard, Emma Pohlmann and Sarah Moore each had at least two kills.

With the win Chelsea improved to 2-0 in area play, while Calera is now 1-1 in area play.

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