Chelsea defeats Pelham in their second meeting of the season

Published 1:46 pm Thursday, September 15, 2022

By Lauren Sexton

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By LAUREN SEXTON | Sports Reporter

CHELSEA – For the second time this season, the Chelsea Hornets squared off against county rival Pelham on Wednesday, Sept. 14 and picked up a 3-1 victory in four tight sets.

Both teams started the evening off strong after having played the night prior. Chelsea won the first set 25-22, however, Pelham fought back during the second set and won 25-17.

Chelsea returned to the third set beating Pelham in another close set 25-23. Despite the Panthers’ best efforts, the Hornets secured their latest win in the fourth and final set 25-19.

“I feel like one we knew what to expect from them,” Chelsea head coach Jamie Gill said about the Hornets’ second time playing Pelham. “We went out there and enjoyed the game and relaxed, that kind of made a big difference for us. What we’re trying to do is get a little bit better every time we get out on the floor, we just have to stay focused.”

Chelsea’s Lauren Buchanan had 14 kills, 10 digs, two aces and one block. Senior, Madison Moore totaled 19 assists and two aces, while Cara Belcher had eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage.

Dani Sulenski totaled four kills and had a .500 hitting percentage. Reagan Sartin had 15 digs, MK Dojonovic totaled 22 assists and Madison Moore led with 19 assists and had two aces.

“I think we just really clicked and I think we were our main goal is to be positive and stay happy even when we’re down,” Chelsea’s Cara Blecher said. “We want just to prepare ourselves for state and we just want to push ourselves to our fullest potential.”

Sophomore Camryn McMinn led the panthers with 16 kills in the match against Chelsea. Londyn Wynn and Averi Smith followed McMinn with 10 and nine kills.

Emma Studdard and Wynn totaled three aces Wednesday evening, Kylee Hester had two aces.

Junior Kassadi Jones had the only solo block for Pelham.

Smith totaled the highest number of digs for the Panthers with 13, while Studdard and Hester followed with seven each.

In addition to Hester’s digs, she had 39 assists, while Smith had 32 receptions and Wynn added 26

“I thought we played at a pretty high level. It’s just it’s tough when both teams are coming off a three out of five last night and finding a way to do that back to back is, not something you do very often,” Pelham head coach Perry Robinson said about Pelham’s back-to-back games. “We played well but we couldn’t close.”

Pelham continues on the road as they take on Briarwood Tuesday, Sept. 20. Chelsea hits the road next to face Spain Park on Tuesday. Sept. 20.

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