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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor 

CLANTON – The Pelham Panthers will carry the confidence of knowing they have beaten every team in their area twice this season into this year’s area tournament.

The Panthers finished off a perfect 6-0 regular season in area play and improved to 26-9 overall on Monday, Oct. 4 with a sweep of the Chilton County Tigers.

Pelham finished area play in the regular season dropping just two sets, one to Calera and one to Helena, as the Panthers beat opponents by a combined 18-2.

Taking on Chilton County, the Panthers picked up their fourth sweep of an area opponent this season and did so in dominant fashion winning two of the three sets by at least 15 points.

The opening set was the closest, but Pelham took control early. After falling behind 2-1, the Panthers went on 6-0 run to storm in front 7-2.

Pelham never looked back from there, using several aces and kills to take a 10-point lead at 17-7 before eventually going on to win the opening set 25-17.

That led to all the momentum in Pelham’s favor, and the Panthers capitalized.

They opened the second set with back-to-back aces from Jaden Jones to set the tone. From there, they left no doubt, eventually pulling away for the easiest win of the night in a 25-7 effort capped off by a kill from Elizabeth Hayhurst.

Pelham carried that same sense of confidence into the third set looking to put the match away.

The Panthers did just that with another special effort. They took a tight battle through the first few points and pulled away with a strong run to pick up a 25-10 set victory and the 3-0 match win.

Hayhurst led the team with eight kills in the win, while Camryn McMinn added seven. Courtney Proffit and Victoria West were just behind with six kills in a balanced effort.

McMinn also had a special night at the service line with five aces, while Jones was just one behind with four aces.

Both Shay Walsh and Jones had six digs, while eight total Pelham players had at least two digs and 11 had at least one.

In addition to her six digs, Walsh also led the team with 22 assists.