Washington takes down MP

The Washington and Mt. Pleasant student sections sat in opposite corners of the Washington High School gym. The visiting Panther fans, dressed in construction vests, traded chants across the floor with the Washington students, who dawned a variety of professional sports jerseys as their theme for the game.

It was a fitting buzz for two rivals playing their first Southeast Conference game of the season. After back-and-forth action on the court and in the seats, it was the Washington students who joined the players on the floor in celebration as the Demons defeated Mt. Pleasant 3-0 Monday.

“I thought it was a really good atmosphere for the girls to play in,” Washington coach Aaron Six said.“ It was fun to coach in and having the crowds kind of chanting back and forth on some things. It’s fun to see, and any time we can start out conference 1-0 that is a definite plus.”

Washington, which began the season with a 1-4 showing at the Grinnell Varsity Tournament, started SEC play with with its seventh straight victory over Mt. Pleasant. Despite a narrow 25-23 second set, the Panthers were unable to climb out of an early hole after it lost the first set 25-18. The Demons shut the door in the third set with a 25-21 victory.

Demons senior Leighton Messinger led the way with 12 of Washington’s 40 kills. Sophomore Lauren Drahota and junior Layla Green each added eight. Senior Taylor Miksch chipped in with seven.

Sophomore Reagan Miller racked up 24 assists, her second best mark of the season, to set up a consistent Demons attack. Miller also showed off her versatility, adding five kills.

“At [the Grinnell] tournament we had a lot of practice,” Miksch said. “We played some of the best teams in the state and we learned to work our way around the block and communicate with our setters, and I feel like today we did that."

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Washington’s net play also stepped up to help the Demons to victory. Green led the way with five of the team’s 11 blocks and continues to dominate at the net after leading the Demons in blocks last season.

“We did a great job as far as our middles holding their middle block and allowed our outsides to go one-on-one a lot of times with that,” Six said. “And they were able to take advantage of that and get quite a few kills on the outside.”

Washington (2-4, 1-0 SEC) has three days to rest and prepare for the Anamosa Tournament on Saturday. Their next home contest is against Mid-Prairie at 7:15 p.m. Monday.

Mt. Pleasant (5-3, 0-1) will look to regroup quickly with another road match against Albia. The Panthers and Lady Dees face off at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.