Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – Coming in fresh off an area sweep of Pelham, the Chelsea Hornets now have positive momentum in the form of a three-match win streak thanks to winning both legs of a tri-match.

After defeating the Pell City Panthers 2-0 earlier in the afternoon, Chelsea downed the top team in Class 5A, the Briarwood Christian Lions, in a 2-1 match on Thursday, Oct. 2 at Chelsea High School.

The latter win also served as a measure of revenge for a four-set loss to Briarwood earlier in the season.

The Lions did get a positive result in the form of a win over Pell City to end the tri-match with a 1-1 record.

Chelsea and Pell City started out the tri-match on the court against each other, and the match quickly tilted in the hosts’ favor.

The Hornets raced ahead to a commanding lead that grew to double digits, and they quickly wrapped up the set win from there. Chelsea’s 25-9 win in the first set gave it a 1-0 lead in the match and set the stage for more positives to come.

The Panthers rallied to make the second set more respectable, but the Hornets still remained in control and finished out the match victory. Chelsea won the second set by a score of 25-18 to sweep the match 2-0.

Pell City remained on the court to face Briarwood, and that led to another win for the Lions to start their day. After winning the first set, Briarwood finished off the win with another victory in the second set to sweep the match.

The victory extended the Lions’ win streak to eight-straight matches, but that momentum hit a speed bump when they faced the Hornets in the final match of the day.

The two teams battled it out in the first set before Chelsea took the lead. Even after, Briarwood remained within striking distance and lurked closely behind in the final points.

The Hornets went on to win the first set in 25-21 fashion to put themselves a set win away from a match victory.

However, the Lions made the second set an even closer affair. Briarwood and Chelsea were neck-and-neck down the stretch, so much so that they were tied at 24-24 in the end. The two teams traded the next two points before the Lions averted the possibility of a sweep.

Briarwood won back-to-back points to seal the 27-25 second-set win and tie the match up at 1-1.

That sent the teams to a third and decisive set to break the tie, and just like the first two sets, it proved to be another close one. The Hornets got the upper hand and saw out the win in the final points to end the day victorious.

Chelsea won the third set by a score of 15-11 to take the 2-1 win and grab both legs of the tri-match.

The Hornets got back to .500 with the wins as their record is now 14-14 going into the weekend.

Chelsea will be in tournament action on Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Oktoberfest Tournament in Cullman. The Hornets are set for pool matches against the Northside Rams, Lawrence County Red Devils and Decatur Red Raiders.

Briarwood took its record to 28-4 after the 1-1 day in Chelsea. The Lions are off for the weekend before their final two five-set matches of the season. The first will be against the McAdory Yellow Jackets on Monday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. at Briarwood Christian School.