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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTGOMERY – After clinching a spot in the Class 6A state tournament, the Chelsea Hornets players said just one thing to each other as they exited Court Six: “Triple Dipper.”

While they were referring to the Chili’s appetizer, it was fitting since three was indeed the Hornets’ magic number on Wednesday, Oct. 23, as they defeated both the Theodore Bobcats and Pike Road Patriots in three sets at the South Super Regionals at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex in Montgomery.

Those wins were just the appetizers for what will be a very welcome main course: Chelsea’s first state tournament appearance since 2019.

“It means everything. I mean, I think that’s why we do it, right?” Chelsea coach Jamie Gill said. “You get up early and stay late and practice hard and sacrifice your body for something that you really believe in, and so it’s a great moment.”

In the Hornets’ first game of the day against Theodore, they got off to a flying start by taking a 6-3 lead early in the first set.

They continued to cruise from there and built out a dominant lead, sealing a 25-6 win to go up 1-0 in the match.

Chelsea continued to ride its momentum to a big lead, starting out the second set with a 7-1 run before the Bobcats took a timeout.

That lead grew to 12-2 before the Hornets went on a 6-0 run backed by multiple aces from Lila Willett, making the lead 18-2.

Theodore clawed back a couple of points in a row, but Kaylin Crowell found Lauren Buchanan for a kill to regain the serve.

Claire Casey’s ace gave Chelsea the 25-5 win in the second set, putting her team a set win away from advancing to the next round.

The Hornets continued to dominate the serve and started the third set with three straight points before pulling away for an 11-3 lead.

Back-to-back aces made the lead 19-6, and while Theodore broke the serve twice before the end of the match, Chelsea proved to be too much once again.

The Hornets took the final two points to earn a 25-8 third-set win and the 3-0 sweep, setting up a matchup with the Pike Road Patriots for a spot at state.

After splitting the first 12 points of the match, Chelsea went on a 4-0 run to go up 10-6 and force a Pike Road timeout.

The Patriots wouldn’t get much closer to the Hornets down the stretch, especially after Chelsea used a 5-1 run to trigger another timeout with a 16-9 lead.

Pike Road drew within single digits to make the score 20-11, but the Hornets responded with four straight points capped off by a Buchanan ace and then a Kaleigh Hall free ball to get on set point with a 24-11 lead.

However, the Patriots made one last stand in the set by going on a 4-0 run to force Chelsea to regroup. Cara Belcher then got a kill from the setter spot to claim the 25-15 win.

That set up a massive 9-0 run for the Hornets to start the second set as they put the lead completely out of reach.

Pike Road briefly made it a 10-point game at the 14-4 mark, but Chelsea responded with four straight points to make the lead 19-4.

The Hornets continued to control the set from there as the Patriots only broke serve a handful of times down the stretch. Chelsea finished off the set with a short run to claim the 25-9 win and go up 2-0 in the match.

However, Pike Road wouldn’t go down without a fight as it took the lead and held it through a tight opening stretch of the third set.

After the Patriots led 6-4, the Hornets tied up the set on three separate occasions, but Pike Road held them off and led 12-10.

That’s when everything changed though.

Chelsea made its strongest run of the set and tied up the set at 12-12 off a Belcher ace before Willett got a kill to take a lead that her team would not give up.

The Patriots won back-to-back points off a timeout to make it a 15-14 game, but Chelsea commanded the rest of the match.

A Willett ace and a Buchanan kill were part of three straight points out of a timeout to extend the lead to 23-17. Pike Road responded with a point, but the Hornets then reached match point with a 24-18 lead.

The Patriots kept the match going for one more point before Alexis Rudolph finished off the 25-19 third-set win with a kill, which kicked off an enthusiastic celebration as the Hornets clinched their place in the state tournament.

After the Pike Road match, Gill said that this moment is a long time coming for her team after years of disappointments in the area tournament to not just win an area title, but now reach the state tournament for the first time in their playing career.

“These girls have dreamt of this moment for so long, and I think that their hard work and dedication and buy-in to the program and what all we’ve done, they just really deserve this moment,” Gill said.

She credited her team’s inner belief for leading to a full team effort in both of the sweeps and says that will need to continue as they push on in their quest for a state championship.

“Today, I think that they just really believed in themselves and they were confident in their skills,” Gill said. “I know that for us to keep on going and perform, they’re going have to continue to just grow and get better and better, and I think they’re ready to do that.”

Chelsea will face the Spanish Fort Toros, who are fresh off an upset of No. 1 Montgomery Academy, in the South Super Regional Semifinals on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex.

The Hornets will then face either Pelham or Gulf Shores at 4 p.m. to decide their final seed for the state tournament, which starts with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 9 a.m. at the Birmingham CrossPlex.