PLYMOUTH — You've got to hand it Haley Smart Tuesday night.
The junior hitter showed no ill effects from a broken finger by coming up with seven kills and two blocks in helping Plymouth roll to a 25-16, 25-12, 25-10 victory over Glenn in opening round action of the Class 3-A Plymouth volleyball sectional.

After a sluggish start, the Pilgrims (22-12) seized command with a 9-0 run during the second game to advance to Saturday's first semifinal against Rochester.

"We came out a little slow at first, but then we really picked it up in that second game," said Plymouth coach Walt Pickerell. "Once Chelsea (Benge) got those sets going for us, we really stepped it up and started getting everyone more involved.

"When Haley got hurt last month, we initially thought she was going to need surgery and be gone for the season. Now that we have her back (for her third game), she has really helped solidify us. We're stronger because now we can put everyone back in their right places."

The senior Benge had seven kills and two blocks, while classmate Carly Plumlee chipped in eight kills and eight digs.

"I think we might have had some nerves in that first game because we just weren't very sharp," Benge said. "Once we got our passing down, though, we started coming together. When we're making good passes, we can be tough to beat."

Behind 12 digs from senior Emily Traversa, the Falcons (9-23) managed to keep their composure for much of the first two games.

A 14-2 spurt in the third game, though, proved to be too much to handle.

"We came out excited early on and played with a lot of confidence," said Glenn coach Megan Maure. "Once we started making the mistakes, they quickly started adding up against us. We wanted to win so bad tonight, but the more we got frustrated, the more we got down on our ourselves."

Junior Alyssa Schmidt had six digs and 12 assists for Glenn, while Meagan Barron and Nicole Scheetz added 14 and 12 assists respectively for Plymouth.

PLYMOUTH BEAT GLENN, 25-16, 25-12, 25-10

At Plymouth

Kills: Carly Plumlee (P) 8, Chelsea Benge (P) 7, Haley Smart (P) 7, Brielynn Newland (G) 4, Stephanie Radandt (G) 3, Alex Schleg (G) 5.

Blocks: Benge (P) 2, Smart (P) 2.

Assists: Meagan Barron (P) 14, Nicole Scheetz (P) 12, Alyssa Schmidt (G) 12.

Aces: Barron (P) 4.

Digs: Plumlee (P) 8, Lindsay Renz (P) 7, Emily Traversa (G) 12, Schmidt (G) 6.

Records: Plymouth 22-12, Glenn 9-23.

Officials: Dave Felton and Cary Schnick.