Implosion, coach Phillip Goodloe said, was the best way to characterize what happened when his Cary volleyball team was bounced out of the NCHSAA 4-A state tournament 3-1 by Wilmington Hoggard Thursday.

“We got down a couple points in the second game and starting getting on each others’ cases and getting on each others’ nerves,” Goodloe said. “And that was it. I told them from day one, teams that make it to the end are ones that are still healthy and still getting along.”

The Imps won the first game 25-16 before losing the next three 25-20, 25-18, 25-19. They were beset by unforced errors and couldn’t block the Vikings’ front line Allison Jones and Kristin Boyd.

Hoggard seized control of the third game with an early 6-0 run that put the Vikings up 11-7. Cary couldn’t get any closer than two points the rest of the game.

An 8-1 run in the fourth game allowed Hoggard to open up a 19-11 lead. Cary scored eight of the next 11 points to get to within three, 22-19, but Hoggard scored the final three points to end the Imps’ season.

Cary enjoyed one its best seasons ever. The Imps finished 18-2 and won the Tri-Eight championship, and the 18 wins are believed to be the most in school history. As far as anyone could tell, no Cary team had ever reached the third round of the state tournament, either.

“They fought well, but we are game one,” Goodloe said. “Two, three and four, that’s not us. We can do so much better than that.”