The Eudora High volleyball squad was smooth, comfortable and in control, dominating Towanda Circle in the first game, 25-13, and rallying from an 18-24 deficit to take the match in two.

And that could make the night all the more disappointing.

Eudora, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, lost its first two matches Friday, failing to advance to the final round of the Class 4A state volleyball tournament for the second consecutive year.

“We can’t make any excuses,” coach Jill Stutler said. “We just didn’t execute. We didn’t come and play our ballgame, and that hurt us.”

The first – and most ominous – match came against Wamego.

Eudora beat Wamego in the state tournament last season, but the Cardinals lost out on a three-way tie, the Red Raiders knocking them out of contention via a tiebreaker on the first day.

Wamego still seemed to have Eudora’s number. The teams hung close through the first half of the first game, tying at 13, 15 and 16. Wamego unleashed five straight points, however, and scored nine of 11 to set the tone.

Eudora couldn’t hang with Wamego in the second game either, falling behind 12-6 before losing, 25-17.

“We were really tight and we weren’t playing our game at all,” senior setter Kelsey Epperson said. “We were really pumped up to play them. Knowing they were in our pool again, we were hoping to beat them.”

Things didn’t get much better against Topeka Hayden.

The first game was again close, tying at 16, but Hayden broke free and won, 25-19. The Cardinals closed a gap in the second, cutting the lead to 24-22, but still lost, 25-22.

“After we lost to Wamego twice, we just got down,” Epperson said. “We came back and played a little better against Hayden, but our passing was really off in all aspects. We didn’t have defense and we didn’t have blocking, so we couldn’t put it together without those.”

It all seemed right in the season finale against Circle.

The passing was crisp, the kills were hard and unreturnable, and, for 45 minutes, the Cardinals played with the machinelike fluidity that helped them carve through their regular-season schedule.

Eudora (39-6) lost just four matches on the season prior to the state tournament and only one in the last six weeks. It swept the sub-state tournament without dropping a game. Stutler said bouncing back against Circle was important.

“We kept our pride intact,” Stutler said. “Not too many teams can say they ended on a winning note. It was just about pride.”