Photo Courtesy Jessica Parsons via Washington Demon Activities Social Media

The Washington Demon volleyball team fell just short of back-to-back conference titles Monday at Keokuk in the championship rounds of the Southeast Conference Tournament. The Demons were a winner over Fairfield in straight sets 25-20 and 25-21, but dropped their contest with eventual champion Burlington in three 23-25, 25-17 and 15-12 to take second. Stat-leaders for the Demons included Reagan Miller with 33 assists, 21 digs and two aces. Leighton Messinger with 24 kills, four blocks and two aces. Taylor Miksch with 19 digs and 17 kills. Carys Miller with 16 assists. Ellie Farmer finished with three aces. Addison Miller, Sarah Berdo and Lauren Drahota had two blocks each. The loss to the Grayhounds snaps the Demon win-streak at 10. This week, KCII Sports caught up with Farmer and Reagan Miller to talk about the run of success for Washington in the second half of the year. “We’ve just been working hard in practice every day, giving our full effort and focusing on things that we have struggled with this year. We have spent time on serving and serve/receive especially. It’s been important to find our open spots on the court. We found things that were working and trying new things. We have really improved on our communication and we got into a flow of understanding how each other play. We work well together.”

The Demons are now 20-13 overall, 9-1 in the SEC, ahead of a Senior Night match Thursday at the Demon Den against Columbus. Washington will honor five seniors including Carys Miller, Lily Brown, Taylor Miksch, Leighton Messinger and Addison Miller.