By James Costello Sports Editor
PLYMOUTH — The Lady Pilgrims may have been the underdogs headed into the championship match, but if the Knights thought they were in for an easy victory, they had another thing coming.
Plymouth executed solidly in every facet of its game, giving No. 4-ranked Mishawaka Marian all it could handle for four games in front of a boisterous crowd at The Rock before eventually falling 25-22, 22-25, 25-14, 25-22 in the Class 3A Plymouth Volleyball Sectional championship Saturday night.

“We’ve been working on a game plan since the drawing and executing every day of practice,” said Plymouth head coach Walt Pickerell. “I thought we did a pretty good job of executing here and just got some balls at the end that didn’t go our way and went their way. That was the difference in some of the games.
“Our kids played hard, played as hard as they could and did the best they could and couldn’t get it done, but hey, it was a great effort. A great effort.”
It was also a balanced effort on both sides of the net.
Chelsea Benge sent home a team-high 11 kills, while Haley Smart added six, Carly Plumlee put away five and freshman Andria Shook chipped in two — in addition to the team’s only ace of the match — while Meagan Barron and Nicole Scheetz led the Pilgrims’ setting game with 12 assists apiece.
But it was Plymouth’s defense that really shone in the dramatic title match, as Shook, Plumlee and Barron each recorded a block kill while registering respective block assist tallies of three, two and one. Cortnee Kelly also put in three block assists at the net, Benge notched two and Smart added one, and Plymouth libero defender Lindsay Renz pulled up 15 digs against a hard-hitting Marian lineup, followed by Shannon Elliott’s five for the match.
“We spend 30 minutes a day every day on blocking, and it just didn’t look like it was coming together, but tonight they finally got it wrapped up and come together,” said Pickerell. “We blocked the (Meredith) Farkas girl several times and made her do some things she didn’t want to do. I just think we had a great game plan, and the kids executed it well.”
“Net defense and the back row. Their defense stepped up,” said Marian head coach Dan Anderson. “Their libero played great today. Last time she didn’t do as well, and that was the difference right there. The libero was awesome for that team. She wanted to win; she dug balls.”
While the result was the same, Saturday’s championship was a far cry from the Pilgrims’ 25-13, 25-13, 25-16 loss to the Knights on Sept. 14. Plymouth closed out a nip-tuck game two with a 5-2 run highlighted by a pair of Benge kills and another from Smart to claim a 25-22 win. The victory marked the first time Marian had lost a single game to an opponent since a five-game loss to 4A, fifth-rated Penn earlier this season and kept the Knights from a nine-game sweep at the sectional tourney.
“After watching them in the first match (against Rochester) this morning, that team was ready to play today,” said Anderson. “The first match we played them earlier in the season, they picked it up. They were ready. I was really excited for them to play well but we had to step it up also and not just let Plymouth play well. It was a great match.”
While the Pilgrims were able to contain her early on, Marian strong side hitter Farkas found another gear with eight kills in game three en route to a match-high 24 for the night to help lift her team to the win.
With their third-straight sectional title in tow, the Knights move on to face the Knox Redskins — who won their first sectional title in 20 years at Rensselaer Central Saturday — in the opener at the Twin Lakes Regional.
Plymouth, meanwhile closes its season out at 23-12 and bids goodbye to a host of seniors in Benge, Scheetz, Plumlee, Kelly, Megan Martindale and Dani McPherron.
“We had a great season,” Pickerell said. “We were 23-13. With the competition we play and all the ranked teams that we play those 13 losses, probably eight of them were to ranked teams, and I’m happy with our record. Like I say, I’d like to be state champions, but it doesn’t happen every year.
“Our seniors, they hung together and we’re going to miss them next year.”
Leading up to Saturday’s championship showdown, the Pilgrims topped Roch-ester in three competitive semifinal games 25-20, 25-23, 25-15.
Benge led her team to the championship berth with 17 kills and a block, while Scheetz dished out 24 as-sists, and Plumlee tallied 12 kills with 15 digs.
• CLASS 3A PLYMOUTH VOLLEYBALL SECTIONAL
At Plymouth
CHAMPIONSHIP
MISHAWAKA MARIAN 3,
PLYMOUTH 1
(25-22, 22-25, 25-14, 25-22)
Plymouth stats
Kills: Chelsea Benge 11, Haley Smart  6, Carly Plumlee 5, Andria Shook 2
Blocks: Shook 1 (3 assists), Plumlee 1 (2 assists), Meagan Barron 1 (1 assist),  Cortnee Kelley (3 assists), Benge (2 assists), Smart (1 assist)
Aces: Andria Shook 1
Assists: Barron 12, Nicole Scheetz 12
Digs: Lindsay Renz 15, Shannon Elliott 5
Marian stats
Kills: Meredith Farkas 24, Allie Sailor 14
Aces: Rachel Gilman 4
Assists: Mollie Pajakowski 24, Katie Mischler 22
Digs: Sailor 16, Megan McMahon 12
Records: Marian 31-5, Plymouth 23-13 (final)
SEMIFINALS
MARIAN 3, NEW PRAIRIE 0
(25-14, 25-11, 25-12)
PLYMOUTH 3, ROCHESTER 0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-15)
Plymouth stats
Kills: Chelsea Benge 17, Carly Plumlee 12
Blocks: Benge 1
Aces: Meagan Barron 2
Assists: Nicole Sheetz 24, Barron 21
Digs: Lindsay Renz 17, Plumlee 15
Rochester stats
Kills: Jessica Cannedy 14, Katlyn Sawyer 8
Blocks: Raeann Hunter 3
Aces: Sawyer 1, Maggie Good 1
Assists: Sawyer 22
Digs: Kaylyn Durkes 9, Good 8, Sawyer 8
Records: Plymouth 23-12, Rochester 14-19 (final)