The Washington Demon volleyball team began defense of their Southeast Conference Championship Tuesday by breaking out the brooms on their arch-rivals from Mount Pleasant. The Demons swept the visiting Panthers by scores of 25-18, 25-23, and 25-21. Following the match, Washington senior Leighton Messenger talked with KCII Sports about winning the key second set and what the Demons did well on the night. “It was close in the second set, low 20s we were tied. We just told ourselves that we need to play our game and not let any balls drop. I thought we played really scrappy defense. We took control of the net. I think that’s where all of the pieces fell together and that’s how we finished it. We had such a great energy and we flowed really well. We were super-scrappy and controlled our side of the net and blocking-wise. We made a few errors, but that’s stuff that we can work on for next game. It feels pretty good (to beat Mt. Pleasant). We have gone back and forth with them for a few years now, kind of rival schools. We know that it’s good competition and we have to show up and play well against them and I think that’s what we did tonight.”

Stat-leaders for the Demons included Reagan Miller with 24 assists and Carys Miller with 11. Messenger finished with 12 kills and Layla Green had eight. Ellie Farmer led the Demon defense with 18 digs, Reagan Miller had 16 and Messenger 12. Green stood tall at the net with five blocks. Taylor Miksch led from the service line with three aces. Washington is now 2-4 on the year and 1-0 in conference play as they get ready for the Anamosa Tournament Saturday.