Demons fall to Fort Madison, honor seniors

A strong showing in Tuesday night?s first game highlighted Washington?s final home match of the season.

The Demons put together a late rally in the first game against Fort Madison, but they fell short in the set, as the 20-win Bloodhounds picked up a conference sweep of Washington.

?We need to focus a little bit more on blocking,? Washington head coach Lexa Mahr said. ?I thought we did a little better job of that tonight, and it seemed like we were just one step short on defense. We need to focus on being on our toes and being ready to move for the ball.?

The Demons fell to 3-22 on the season, and have one regular season match (Thursday at Fairfield) remaining this season.

Washington also celebrated senior night on Tuesday, honoring its three seniors (Alexis Turner, Liv Postl and Jessie Buchholz) before the varsity contest.

Mahr, who is in her first season as the Demon head coach, said the group of seniors has been integral to making this season a positive experience.

?I cannot speak highly enough of the three seniors we have on the team,? Mahr said. ?Alexis, Liv and Jessie are fantastic both on and off the court. They bring so much leadership to our team and bring such a positive outlook on everything and have been fantastic to coach.

?I wish we could have gotten a win tonight, but like we said in the locker room, our record doesn?t define us. We are a much better team than our record shows and we need to keep playing hard like we have been.?

Fort Madison opened the contest strong, jumping out to a 19-7 lead, but Washington wasn?t going to let the Bloodhounds off easy.

An 8-0 run closed the gap to four points, and the Demons fought to make it 21-17. Fort Madison called a timeout and went on to finish the set with a 25-18 victory.

?That?s just the team that we are,? Mahr said. ?Lately we seem to like to dig ourselves a bit of a hole, we call timeout and refocus again. I told them that they need to focus on their job. They took it to heart, because they were on fire and that was the team I love to see. They came out hard and it was fantastic.?

The Demons kept things close in the second game, before a 7-2 run helped Fort Madison pull away to a 25-14 set victory.

In the third set, Fort Madison cruised to a 25-7 victory, clinching the sweep.

Washington will prepare for its final conference match of the year at Fairfield on Thursday, before taking on their first-round regional tournament opponent, North Scott, on Oct. 19.

?(We) bring energy every single practice, and it was great to see them do that tonight,? Mahr said. ?We have been doing a lot of team-building throughout the year, and we?ve stuck together. I think that?s due to the senior leadership on the team.?