Despite strong second set, WACO volleyball swept by Washington

WASHINGTON ? Every point in a volleyball match begins with a serve. And during Monday?s non-conference match against visiting WACO, Washington was nearly flawless at that skill.

The Demons went 57-for-59 from the service line and swept the Warriors by scores of 25-12, 25-23 and 25-11.

?We had two misses all night out of about 60 serves,? Washington head coach Jeff Spenner said. ?We were aggressive with our serving, and when you only miss two and have eight aces, that?s really good. That was our main offense right there.?

Washington (12-13), which entered the match serving over 92 percent on the season, was good on all 24 of its serves in the first set. Junior Stephanie Fishback also spiked down six kills in the opening set as the Demons rolled to a 25-12 win.

?One thing we?ve struggled with a little bit this year is coming out and being aggressive and under control to start a match,? Spenner said. ?To win the first one 25-12 shows you we played all-around good volleyball, which is a good start.?

The Demons also seemed in control of the second set, leading 19-12, before the Warriors began to rally. One of Washington?s two missed serves of the night allowed WACO to trim the lead to 21-19. Fishback responded with a kill and an ace serve, and sophomore Anna Wheeler added a kill to give the Demons game point. But a pair of hitting errors and a pair of aces by WACO freshman Hannah Black pulled the Warriors within 24-23 before Washington ultimately won the set.

WACO head coach Tom Ferguson said his Warriors played more aggressively in the second set and showed what they could do.

?I felt like we started playing maybe a third of the way through that second game,? he said. ?I keep telling them it comes from passing. If we pass the ball and move our feet to pass the ball, then it puts us in a position where the setter can set the ball and the hitters can get up and start to get into a rhythm and be aggressive. That?s what they have to do to win is be aggressive.?

Before the start of the third set, Ferguson implored his team to keep playing the way it did at the end of the second set, but Washington jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third.

?We played hard starting about a third of the way through the second game and carried that through to the end, and I said, ?We have to come out in this third game and play that way,? but we immediately started reaching out instead of moving our feet,? he said. ?Then we got down 7-1, and nothing happened until they started moving their feet. Then they got a little scrappier about halfway through that third game, but that?s not soon enough. They have to do that right away.?

The Demons went on to win the third set 25-11, giving Spenner a win over the coach he used to be an assistant under at WACO.

?Tom and I coached together for four years when I was an assistant there,? Spenner said. ?It was the first time I?ve coached against Tom, and it?s always great to see the people you?ve known and play against them.?

Next up for the Demons is a Southeast Conference match at home against No. 11 Fairfield.

?They can be beat,? Spenner said. ?Fort Madison has beaten them. They?ve lost four matches. We have to have our best night to come out and do that, but I think we have that potential.?

WACO will play its final match of the regular season tonight at Louisa-Muscatine.