Panthers withstand Demons

Washington made Mt. Pleasant work on Tuesday night in their Southeast Conference volleyball showdown, but the Panthers bounced back from an 0-1 hole to win the game in four sets (18-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-20).

The Demons came out firing in the first set. Washington went on a 6-3 run to start the game thanks in part to back-to-back kills by Alexis Turner.

Mt. Pleasant found their stride shortly after, thanks to a few Demon mistakes. Lena Henriksen capped off a 6-1 run with a kill that gave Mt. Pleasant a 9-7 lead.

Washington hit right back, however, with a 7-2 run of their own to take a 14-11 lead that they never relinquished. The Demons started to pull away thanks to strong play at net and finished the set off on a Megan Mitchell ace to win, 25-18.

?You could definitely see the improvements (Washington has) made,? said Mt. Pleasant head coach David Streeter. ?They?re young, but you can definitely see it.?

The second set was close early, but a couple of big serving streaks for Mt. Pleasant helped the Panthers pull away.

Kirsten Smith and Dani Broeker each had a long serve streak during the second set. Kalynn Batey came in and got a couple of aces late to make it 24-13. The Demons stopped Batey but sent a serve of their own into the net, and Mt. Pleasant won, 25-15.

?They?re good servers,? said Streeter about the run. ?Dani has a little bit of a jump with the float on it. It makes it hard for defenders to pass that ball up.?

Washington was able to stick with Mt. Pleasant early in the third set, led by a handful of kills by Olivia Postl and Isabel Bailey.

An ace from Mitchell gave Washington an 8-7 lead early in the set, but the Panthers busted the game open with a 15-7 run directly after.

Mikayla Beason found her grove, peppering three kills and one ace during the big Panther run. Abbie Liechty had an ace and Kylie Sourwine had the kill to cap off the run and stretch the Panther lead to 22-15.

Washington cut the lead to 23-19 thanks to three kills by Bailey, but Mt. Pleasant?s Jackie Fraise stole some momentum with a kill and a Demon kill attempt fell short to give Mt. Pleasant a 25-19 win.

The most back-and-forth set of the night was the fifth. Mt. Pleasant scored the first three points of the set, but Washington went on a 6-1 run, highlighted by back-to-back aces from Kylee Porter that gave the Demons a 6-4 lead.

Mt. Pleasant, however, battled back and took the lead on an ace by Sarah Moffett. The Panthers held a small lead throughout the game from that point on.

Genna Cristoforo got in on the action late with a kill to stretch the lead to 24-19, and the final point was scored when a Demon spike sailed over the back line, giving Mt. Pleasant the 25-20 win.

Mt. Pleasant moved to 15-12 overall with the win and 3-4 in conference play. Washington fell to 2-19 overall and 1-5 in the SEC.

Both teams will host their respective home tournaments on Saturday, Oct. 8, with each tournament starting at 9 a.m.