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Trojans battle back
Fairfield wipes away 1st set, downs Demons in 4
WASHINGTON — The first set between Washington and Fairfield in Tuesday night’s Southeast Conference volleyball clash was all Demons. The visiting Trojans, however, didn’t crumble.
Fairfield climbed out of a 1-0 hole to beat Washington in four sets, turning a second-set swing game into a key conference victory, taking the match 15-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18.
“It was very nice, especially since it was our Homecoming week too, and we couldn't have it at home,” said setter Maddie Jones. “We knew we had to come out strong and execute.”
It was the Demons who executed in the opening set. The Demons held Fairfield to just four kills, and Leighton Messinger had four of her own, as Washington rushed out to a big lead and put the Trojans away 25-15 in the opening game.
“We only had four kills, which was tough,” Jones said. “We started getting the ball going around, and we started putting balls down and getting kills.”
The second set proved to be the swing set. After coming back from a deficit to take a 22-21 lead on an Ella Greiner ace, it looked like Washington might pin the Trojans’ backs against the wall with a second-straight win, but Fairfield tied the game at 22-22, and the match was knotted up again at 23-23.
Fairfield went to the outside and found Lilly Bergren, and two straight kills led the Trojans to a 25-23 win. Bergren had two kills in the set.
The Trojans pulled away with the third set late. Fairfield started finding success in the middle with Claire Thompson, who sent a pair of kills down to the Demons’ side to spark a big run. Faith Jones collected a couple of aces late, and the Trojans took the third set 25-18.
“We had really good team togetherness, and we had really good communication throughout the court,” Thompson said. “I think that really brought us to the win.”
Fairfield led 8-4 early in Set 4, but Washington’s Bella Salazar pushed the Demons ahead 9-8 after a long serve streak that was capped off by an ace. Fairfield took back control from that point on, and closed things out with another 25-18 win. Rowan Terrell collected five kills alone in the deciding set.
“It felt really good,” Thompson said. “They were tough competition.”
Terrell finished the night with 11 kills. Bergren had eight, and Thompson finished with six.
Washington’s Messinger finished with 17 kills. Greiner had seven kills, and Taylor Miksch finished with six.
Fairfield is now 7-6 on the year. The Trojans are 2-1 in SEC play. Washington fell to 4-11 and 1-2.
