By Dee Grenert Sports Editor
PLYMOUTH — Plymouth volleyball head coach Walt Pickerell boiled down his team’s sectional semifinal match to full-timers versus seasonal competitors.
Class 3A No. 3 Mishawaka Marian, bolstered by its year-round players, eliminated the Pilgrims from Class 3A Sectional 19 play, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 Saturday afternoon at The Rock.

The Knights captured the crown with a 25-9, 25-15, 25-14 win over St. Joe Saturday night.
“The kids played hard the whole time; I’m proud of them,” Pickerell said. “I think the difference was between kids that play (Junior Olympics) and kids that don’t play J.O. We’ve got some very good three-sport athletes who only play volleyball during the season. They have girls playing year round; it’s all they do.”
Claire Farkas and Stephanie Cukrowicz piled up 13 and 11 kills respectively for the hard-hitting Knights, while Kathleen Chelminiak led Marian’s seemingly omnipresent defense with 11 digs.
Even so, Plymouth hung tough in the first game, and even led 23-18 in the final game.
However, Marian polished off the initial set with a 10-4 run, and rattled off seven straight points to end the match. Three Plymouth attacking errors, coupled with a pair of Farkas kills, completed the final game.
“We couldn’t quite get it done,” Pickerell said. “We had a few mental lapses that led to some big runs, and we knew we couldn’t fall behind against them. We battled, but we were battling back against a good team, and it’s tough to make up ground against a good team.”
Senior Lyzz Smith finished out her Plymouth volleyball career with eight kills, an ace, solo block and a block assist. Haley Smart and Chelsea Benge added seven and six kills respectively, with Benge chipping in a solo block and assisting on a pair of blocks. Carly Plumlee led Plymouth’s defense with 20 digs, and Nicole Scheetz and Meagan Barron dished out 11 assists apiece.
“Carly Plumlee played outstanding defense and Lyzz Smith played well,” Pickerell said. “I thought those two stood out. Chelsea Benge also did a good job.”
• CLASS 3A SECTIONAL 19
At Plymouth
MISHAWAKA MARIAN 25-25-25, PLYMOUTH 19-17-23
Plymouth stats
Kills: Lyzz Smith 9, Haley Smart 7, Chelsea Benge 6.
Digs: Carly Plumlee 20.
Assists: Nicole Scheetz 11, Meagan Barron 11.
Aces: Smith 1.
Block solo: Smith 1, Benge 1.
Block assist: Benge 2, Smith 1.
Marian stats
Kills: Claire Farkas 13, Stephanie Cukrowicz 11.
Digs: Kathleen Chelminiak 11, Maggie Pajakowski 8.
Assists: Katie Mischler 36.
Aces: Mollie Pajakowski 2, Meredith Farkas 1.
Blocks: C. Farkas 2, M. Farkas 1, Anna Kaczmarek 1.
Record: Plymouth 23-12.