By James Costello Sports Editor
PLYMOUTH — Plymouth volleyball got Smart Tuesday.
And it was good to have her back.
After a four-week absence due to a broken finger and a pair of matches shaking some of the rust off against Concord and Triton, Plymouth strong side hitter Haley Smart returned to form Tuesday, knocking out seven kills — including the match point in game three — and recording a pair of block assists to help lift the Lady Pilgrims to a three-game sweep of John Glenn 25-16, 25-12, 25-10 at the Class 3A Plymouth Volleyball Sectional opener.

“We thought she was going to be out for the rest of the year. We thought she was going to have to have surgery,” said Plymouth head coach Walt Pickerell of the junior outside hitter. “She shattered it.”
“She was a little bit rusty last night against Triton, and she looked a little smoother tonight,” he added. “Glad to see some big hits out of her. I mean, she really smacked the ball tonight a couple times.”
Smart’s return to the lineup allowed senior Cortnee Kelly — to whom the task of filling in at Smart’s position had largely fallen over the past month — to move back into her more comfortable position at the opposite side of the net, where she drove home three kills in the final game to finish with five total for the night.
The more natural Plymouth lineup produced solid production up and down the net as left-side hitter Carly Plumlee led all attackers with a match-high eight kills, while Smart’s tally of seven kills was equalled by middle hitter Chelsea Benge.
“Tonight (Smart) goes out there, and the nice thing is Cortnee is in her comfort zone on the opposite side and had a great game tonight getting the ball on the opposite side,” said Pickerell. “It’s nice to have them back in the right place and comfortable and playing some good volleyball.”
Plymouth’s increasing ability to spread out its attack and confound opponents starts with setters Meagan Barron and Nicole Scheetz, who passed out 14 and 12 assists, respectively at The Rock while combining for a perfect 58-of-58 setting rate.
“It starts with a good pass,” said Benge. “Then everything really comes together and we play well.”
Tuesday’s sectional opener was a rematch of an earlier Falcons-Pilgrims contest at Glenn Sept. 29, another three-game decision although three points closer than the two teams’ tournament tussle Tuesday.
“We were really focused for the game, and we weren’t looking ahead of them,” Benge said. “We weren’t looking past them. We respected them.”
Falcons head coach Megan Maure thought the difference between the two matches came down to her young players’ relative tournament inexperience as well as some over-eagerness on their part.
“I think experience is something that’s big, and I think another thing is they wanted to win so bad that things just wouldn’t fall together for us,” she said. “The first game they’re out, enthusiastic and then it just kind of let up. I think they wanted to win so bad, and when they got more down, they just got more frustrated.”
The turning point in the match came early in game two.
The Falcons took a pair of slim leads and battled point for point with the Pilgrims in a nip-tuck start to the game that reached its apex at 7-all. An ace from Smart and a trio of Glenn attacking errors sparked a 10-1 Plymouth run, however, putting the hosts out in front for the remainder of the match.
“They got a run on a serve and some errors added up to a few more errors,” said Maure. “From then on they just got more and more frustrated.
Glenn was led by Alex Schleg’s five kills and Emily Traversa’s 12 digs at the match. Besides Schleg and Traversa, the team loses just one other senior in Rosemarie Banks — who was unable to play at Plymouth with a concussion — and the program shows signs of moving in the right direction as the Falcons close out their season at 9-22.
“Most of the team is returning. I had three seniors, and I had 11 people on my team so I have eight returning next year and I’m excited for next year,” Maure said. “I’m glad we had nine wins. Last year we had three, so we tripled our record.”
Plymouth was led by strong all-around play from Plumlee and Barron, each of whom led their team in two statistical categories versus Glenn. In addition to her eight kills, Plumlee also put in a strong defensive effort with eight digs, while Barron served up four aces — including the coup de grace in game one — to complement her setting game.
“Those two girls are always pretty consistent,” said Pickerell. “Carly plays all the way around, Meagan plays all the way around all the time, and they’re two girls that just always are right at the top of their game.
“I was pleased with both of their performances tonight.”
The Pilgrims improve to 22-12 and move on to face Rochester in a semifinal match Saturday at 11 a.m.
Although they played them in a preseason scrimmage, the Zebras remain somewhat of a mystery to Plymouth.
“Long time ago. You can’t count a scrimmage,” said Pickerell. “I haven’t had the chance to see them. I don’t know what they’re like now but I know (Rochester head coach) Katie Felke’s going to have a team that’s going to play scrappy, and they’re going to dig everything you hit at them so we’ve just got to play our game and get a good up and pound the ball.”
• PLYMOUTH 3, JOHN GLENN 0
  (25-16, 25-12, 25-10)
At Class 3A Plymouth Volleyball Sectional
First round
Plymouth stats
Kills: Carly Plumlee 8, Chelsea Benge 7, Haley Smart 7
Block assists: Benge 2, Smart 2
Aces: Meagan Barron 4
Assists: Barron 14, Nicole Scheetz 12
Digs: Plumlee 8, Lindsay Renz 7
Glenn stats
Kills: Alex Schleg 5, Brielynn Newland 4, Steph Radandt 3
Aces: Cayla Ochs 1
Assists: Alyssa Schmidt 8
Digs: Emily Traversa 12, Schmidt 6, Ochs 2
Records: Plymouth 22-12, John Glenn 9-22 (final)