The Washington Demon volleyball team put together quite an impressive rally, but they couldn’t avoid losing a fifth straight match after dropping a five-set thriller at Mount Pleasant Tuesday night. Mount Pleasant took the first two sets, 25-17 and 25-22, but Washington responded. Demon head coach Aaron Six tells KCII Sports younger players like freshman Leighton Messinger stepped up in the clutch to help Washington turn things around and take the next two sets.

“That was one where there was a lot of heart left on the court,” Six said. “We worked extremely hard. Leighton ended up with four aces and seven kills for the night. We had Ella Greiner, she had eight kills and three aces. She was tied with Alex Murphy, who had eight kills for the night. And a lot of that was situations late in the game, or late in the sets. I thought Alex played well at the net as well. She had one solo block and five block assists.”

The fifth and decisive set of the match was close as well, but ultimately Mount Pleasant held on to win 15-12. The loss drops to the Demons to 4-12. Washington will get a second crack at Mount Pleasant as one of their pool-play opponents when they participate in the Ottumwa Invitational on Saturday.