Demons take fifth place at Ottumwa tournament

Washington went 3-2 and took fifth place at Saturday?s volleyball tournament in Ottumwa.

The Demons opened the day by sweeping Davis County by scores of 21-18 and 21-17. But then Washington lost to Ottumwa (22-20, 21-12) and Mt. Pleasant (21-8, 21-15) to finish 1-2 in pool play.

?We led Ottumwa 19-17 in the first game, and then made a few little mistakes at the end,? Washington head coach Jeff Spenner said. ?We should have beaten them. Then we had a rough match against Mt. Pleasant. We didn?t play very well, and it showed.?

But the Demons bounced back in the consolation tournament. Washington defeated Burlington by scores of 25-21, 22-25 and 15-10, and then swept Centerville by scores of 25-21 and 25-21 to finish fifth at the tournament.

?We played really well against Burlington and Centerville,? Spenner said. ?Centerville had beaten us earlier in the season. It was a good finish. To go 3-2 at that tournament is pretty good. Hopefully that will give us a little bit of momentum going into tonight?s match at Fort Madison.?

Junior Stephanie Fishback spiked down 30 kills on the day to lead the Demons (7-9), and senior Beth Dillon added 27 kills. Senior Sammy Ellingson had 22 kills at the tournament, and sophomore Anna Wheeler chipped in nine. Senior Lauren Kimball dished out 75 assists.

Ellingson had a team-high 56 digs on the day, and Fishback added 38. Junior Maddie Collins chipped in 56 digs. Dillon had four blocks.

Dillon served 97 percent at the tournament with three aces, while Kimball and Collins both served 95 percent.

The Demons travel to Fort Madison tonight for a Southeast Conference match.