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The Chelsea Hornets will play in the Class 6A semifinals later today at 4 p.m. after a commanding sweep of Cullman in the quarterfinals. (Reporter Photos/Andrew Simonson)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – The Chelsea Hornets continued on their dominant run through the Class 6A semifinals, and now, they are just two wins away from a state title.

Chelsea defeated the Cullman Bearcats in straight sets on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in the Class 6A quarterfinals to advance to the next round.

The Hornets will face the Spanish Fort Toros in the 6A semifinals later today at 4 p.m. at the CrossPlex. The two teams squared off in the South Super Regional semifinals last week with Chelsea taking a thrilling 3-1 win.

The semifinal winner will face either Pelham or Gulf Shores in the title game as the south went 4-0 against the north in the state quarterfinals.

The Hornets opened up the match on a strong 6-2 run capped off by a Lila Willett ace. Cullman broke up the run on the next point, but Chelsea then extended its lead back to six with a 9-3 advantage.

However, the Bearcats came roaring back and took a 12-11 lead. Willett got a kill to retake a 13-12 lead, but Cullman then tied the set back up at 13-13.

That was when the Hornets took control, going on a 7-0 run to trigger a pair of Bearcats timeouts and go up 20-13.

Chelsea went on to win the first set 25-18, and that set the stage for a dominant performance in the second set.

The Hornets went up 7-3 to start the match. After Cullman won the next point to make it a three-point game, Chelsea stormed out to an 8-0 run to take a 15-4 lead.

The Hornets hit back-to-back balls out to break up the run, but a Bearcats service error gave the serve back to Chelsea, and that helped to Hornets reclaim control of the set.

After Chelsea went up 22-10, three straight points capped off by a block gave the team a 25-10 win, putting them up 2-0 in the match.

The third set was much like the others with the Hornets opening up a 10-3 lead to start the set before Cullman won five straight points to make it a 10-8 game.

Chelsea responded with a 5-0 run of its own to make the lead 15-8. Even though the Bearcats won three straight points to respond, Claire Casey’s ace made the lead 17-11, and the Hornets continued to hold control in the face of Cullman’s responses.

Chelsea went on to win the third set 25-17 to sweep the Bearcats 3-0 and advance to the 6A semifinals.

Buchanan led the Hornets attack with 21 kills along with eight digs, and Alexis Rudolph complemented her with 13 kills, three aces, two digs and two blocks. Cara Belcher helped out both of them with 41 assists to go with her three digs. Sophia Bagley secured a team-high 15 digs while Willett had three kills and two aces.

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