Demon rally upends Panthers in SEC opener

WASHINGTON – Maybe Washington should start every set trailing 6-1.

That is what Washington coach Lexa Mahr told the Demons Thursday after they rallied from that score in the fifth set to take the Southeast Conference opening volleyball match of the season, 3-2, over the Mt. Pleasant Panthers.

Mt. Pleasant took a 16-5 lead in the first set as Avery Sutter was connecting before winning 25-20.

Olivia Pacha helped Washington take an 11-3 lead in the second set and withstand a Panther rally before winning 25-23.

The Demons got behind 9-2 in the third set and never led until 22-21 and completed the comeback with a 25-23 win.

The Panthers put it all together in the fourth set, sprinting out to a 17-3 lead behind Lexie Magnani, before winning 25-10.

The Panthers then jumped on top 6-1 in the deciding set before Mahr called timeout.

'I would like to think I had some secret thing that I said in a time out but it wasn't me, it was all the girls,” Mahr said. 'That timeout was definitely a key. We just regrouped, settled down and talked about fighting back.”

The Demons hadn't been swinging aggressively, but the first point out of the timeout was a powerful kill from Addison Six. Kinsey Duwa was an assist machine for the Demons, repeatedly setting up her teammates.

'The close games are always the best and most fun to play,” Duwa said.

The longest rally of the night ended when Samantha Farmer put down a kill to pull Washington within 8-6 in the fifth set.

A Duwa ace tied the set at 8 and Mt. Pleasant coach Dave Streeter called timeout down 9-8.

'I wanted them to get re-focused and keep their heads in the game and if they did that, we still had a chance to win,” Streeter said.

The first point out of the TO was a kill by Olivia Marek, then a Duwa tip made it 11-8 and a Farmer kill got the Demons to 12-9.

'Whether it's a joke from the bench or Addison Six saying, ‘let's go,' it doesn't take much to get us pumped up,” Duwa said. 'We pump each other up. I was setting to Sam because she has been on. When she is on, she's on. It all depends on the pass and who looks like they're ready to hit.”

'We made a couple mistakes and were not able to attack,” Streeter said of the momentum swing in the pivotal set. 'They turned it around and attacked on us. That is the name of the game.”

The Panthers got within 12-11 on a kill by Kenna Lamm but Hannah Anderson's kill got it to match point and Kaitlyn Mitchell's ace made it a 15-11 set victory and a 3-2 match triumph.

'Not only is it our first conference win, but it's a conference win against Mount Pleasant and we have not beat them for a while,” Mahr said.

'It is always great to beat Mt. Pleasant,” Duwa said.