The Toll Gate girls’ volleyball was eliminated from the Division II playoffs on Thursday night after falling in three sets to Tolman at home, where the Titans hadn’t lost all season, in the quarterfinals.

The Tigers, the No. 3 seed out of the North, took the first set, 25-21, before leading the entire second set and taking a decisive 25-13 victory. The Titans, the No. 2 seed out of the South, made a run in the closing volleys of the third set, but it wasn’t enough as Tolman took that one as well, 25-22.

“It was a good season,” Toll Gate head coach Pat Chin said. “We had our ups and downs like every other team. It didn’t turn out of the way we wanted it to. I have no words right now.”

The first contest was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team building more than a two-point advantage until the Titans jumped out in front 18-15 after a failed block on the Tolman side. However, a kill to the middle of the court from Kumba Tengbeh and two Titans’ errors knotted the score at 18.

Toll Gate had a 20-19 lead after Tengbeh couldn’t make a block on Braelyn Casacalenda. Soon after, though, two Toll Gate errors, a Tolman service ace and a block from Tengbeh had the Tigers up 23-20, forcing the Titans to use a timeout.

Lauren Stamps made a strong play to get the Titans within two, but it wasn’t enough. A windmill kill from Tolman captain Fenda Konte and a service ace helped the Tigers secure the first set, 25-21. Tengbeh and Konte caused problems all night for Toll Gate, as their height in front of the net proved difficult to match.

“We couldn’t defend the middle,” Chin said. “We had no answer for them. They ran a pretty good offense. Defensively we weren’t there. We had good runs, and after that we couldn’t put it away.”

The Tigers came out much faster in the second set, building a 5-0 lead behind a couple of service aces from captain Angelis Perez. The Titans wouldn’t go quietly, as they then pulled off a 9-6 run to cut the deficit to just two points off solid Ashley Chin serves and errors on the Tolman side.

From that point on, the Tigers went on a run of their own. Behind a few Toll Gate hits out of bounds and continued efficient serving from Perez, the Tigers went up 18-11 to force another Titans timeout.

Toll Gate would not get closer than seven, though, as Tolman scored the final five points of the set to earn a 25-13 win to go up 2-0.

The Titans’ backs were against the wall, and they played with a different intensity in the third set. Neither team was able to build more than a three-point lead for a majority of the set. Tengbeh had a couple consecutive kills to put Tolman ahead 11-8 at one point, but three consecutive errors knotted the score at 11.

Tolman led 16-14 later in the set, but Chin tapped a kill over the net to cut the deficit to 1. However, the Titans continued to hurt themselves with errors, allowing Tolman to go up 18-15 before a timeout was called.

Two Toll Gate kill attempts went out of bounds after the short breather, with Tolman building a 20-15 advantage. The two exchanged points after that, with the Tigers eventually setting up match point, 24-18.

The Titans battled late, rallying for four points to make it 24-22, but a service error gave Tolman the last point it needed to advance to the semifinals against Barrington.

“They showed a little light, but I think it was a little too late,” Chin said. “[If] they put a little more in, I think they would’ve had it.”

Toll Gate won’t make a run for the D-II title this season, but it should be right back in contention next year. The Titans will return six of nine players, including Casacalenda and Lauren Stamps, off a team that finished the regular season with a 13-3 record.

Despite the returning unit that will be around for the 2016 campaign, Chin said he hopes to have some young players fill the gaps left by departing seniors Chin, Taylor Payton and Alyssa Mathews.

“Hopefully, I have some young players who play all year long,” Chin said. “Hopefully they can replace them. We lost three seniors, but pretty much the whole team will be back.”