Demons fall in five sets at Fort Madison

With Washington missing one of its senior leaders ? vocal outside hitter Sammy Ellingson ? the Demons suffered a five-set loss in a Southeast Conference volleyball match at Fort Madison on Tuesday night. The Bloodhounds defeated Washington by scores of 25-11, 18-25, 25-16. 22-25 and 15-12.

Ellingson missed Tuesday?s match because she was serving as a guardian on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Washington head coach Jeff Spenner said that Ellingson?s absence was notable right away in Tuesday?s match.

?The first set you could tell we weren?t ready,? he said. ?With Sammy not there, we changed a lot of people around, and it changed our passing a lot. But I thought as the night went on we did a lot better.?

The Demons (7-10, 1-3 SEC) won a close fourth set to force a fifth game. But with the score tied at 9-9 in the deciding set, the Bloodhounds (7-9, 2-1 SEC) used a kill and two Washington hitting errors to take a commanding lead.

?They got that three-point gap, and we just couldn?t close it,? Spenner said.

Sophomore Stephanie Fishback had 11 kills in the match to lead the Demons, and senior Beth Dillon had seven kills. Senior Lauren Kimball had six kills to go with 28 assists, and sophomore Anna Wheeler had five kills.

Dillon and sophomore Lauren Swan had 19 digs apiece in the match, and Fishback had 18. Junior Lynnette Kennedy added nine digs, and junior Maddie Collins had seven.

Dillon and sophomore Sydney Hoffman both served three aces apiece in the match.

The Demons had been hoping to even their conference record at 2-2 after the first trip through the league.

?It would have been nice to finish the first half 2-2 in the conference, but they?re good,? Spenner said. ?They?re better than their record shows. They have some good hitters.?

Washington returns home and hosts Mid-Prairie for a non-conference match on Thursday night.