Before Tuesday night’s game against Bibb County, Dallas County Hornets head coach Linda Moore said that her team needed to learn how to close out games.

For at least one night, mission accomplished.

The Hornets (4-2) defeated Choctaws Tuesday night 25-8, 25-12, 25-16, in a match where Dallas County was in control the entire way.

“The girls played hard. I am proud of them,” Hornets head coach Linda Moore said. “I am always proud of the hard work we put in. We just try to set a goal for every game and try to follow through with that.”

After letting a couple of games get away in a tournament at Marbury this past weekend, Tuesday night’s goal was to continue learning how to effectively put away sets.

“We are still learning how to finish games.  That’s our main goal,” Moore said. “We are trying to work on finishing our game at the level we started.”

The match was ugly from the beginning. In a lopsided first set, the Hornets won 25-8. The Hornets took control from the very beginning, quickly building a large lead behind accurate serving and great defense.

“With the six seniors that I start, three of them have been in the program for four years. Two of them have been in the program for three years,” Moore said.  “[Serving] is something they have really worked on and worked on hard. Serving is one of our strong areas.”

The Choctaws fought hard in the second game to keep it close, but a tight score early on eventually turned into another one-sided set. Dallas County won 25-12 to take complete control of the match.

The final set was the most competitive, with Bibb County taking an early 9-7 lead.

The Hornets fought back, tying the match at 14. Eventually the Hornets pulled away, scoring the last nine points of the match on Karissa Smiley serves to win the third set 25-16.

Dallas County’s next game is in the Lincoln Tournament Sept. 7. Next week on Sept. 10, the Hornets travel to Selma High School.