Coming off their first playoff win since 2005, the Pilgrim volleyball team was riding high for its Division II quarterfinal match with top-seeded Exeter/West Greenwich on Monday night.

But, very quickly, the Scarlet Knights brought the Pats back down to Earth.

Using consistent serving and the dominating play of senior Taylor Matook at the net, EWG easily absorbed Pilgrim’s best shot in the first game and then cruised in the final two to sweep the Pats 3-0.

The defending D-II champion Scarlet Knights won by scores of 25-15, 25-13 and 25-9 and advanced to the semifinals, where they were scheduled to take on West Warwick on Wednesday night.

EWG earned the No. 1 seed in D-II with a 14-0 regular season. The Pats were the No. 8 seed after going 10-4.

“There’s no question that Exeter/West Greenwich has got the fine tuning,” Pilgrim head coach Claire Baggesen said. “It’s expected. They’ve got a large group of seniors, seniors that play out of high school.”

Chief amongst those seniors was Matook, a middle hitter who racked up 11 kills and 5 blocks, and constantly had Pilgrim on the defensive.

“Taylor is very dominant at the net,” EWG head coach Josh Bednarczyk said. “She’s one of the better players in the state, in my opinion. We controlled a lot tonight.”

Matook helped set the tone right from the get-go, getting a kill for EWG’s first point of the game after Pilgrim had taken a 1-0 lead, and she followed that up with two more within her team’s first five points.

The Pats hung tough, though, as an ace by Betsy Heidel tied the game at five. Every time EWG looked like it was going to pull away in the early going, Pilgrim managed to stay close.

Down 8-5, Danielle LeBlanc rose up for a big hit to close the gap to just two. But little by little, the Scarlet Knights increased their lead.

They made it 9-6 on a kill by Jacelyn Harrington, and they forced Pilgrim into a timeout at 16-8 after two more Matook kills.

The teams traded points until, at 19-11, Pilgrim got back-to-back aces from Maggie Dufault to get within six, only to have Matook answer with an emphatic kill on the next point.

Still, kills by LeBlanc and Celena Dionne got the Pats back to 21-15 before EWG finished off the game.

A service error and a hitting error by Pilgrim gave the Scarlet Knights two points, and a block by Harrington put them one point from the win. A net violation on the Pats ended the game and gave EWG a 1-0 lead.

“We kind of went through our service rotation and almost everybody on the first time through had a service error,” Bednarczyk said. ”That’s actually what we said during a timeout – it’s nerves, it’s going to work out.”

That was bad news for Pilgrim.

EWG went ahead 6-2 early in game two, and it upped that lead to 16-6 behind eight straight points with Paige Johnson at the service line.

The Pats tried to right the ship, winning five straight points to get within 16-11, but EWG buckled down to win nine of the final 11 points.

“They get a little rattled,” Baggesen said. “Needless to say, you need to play the next ball. In volleyball, it doesn’t matter what team you are. It doesn’t matter what position you are. You can’t play that last ball. You have to look to the next ball.”

The third game was more of the same, as the Scarlet Knights went ahead 7-2 from the start on three Matook kills and a block, and Pilgrim never got any closer the rest of the way.

Harrington added a block to make it 12-4 and the Pats just couldn’t seem to rally. EWG continued to be aggressive, and it easily ended the match with the 25-9 win.

Despite the result, Baggesen wasn’t disappointed with the effort.

“All in all they did very, very well,” Baggesen said. “But needless to say, my hat’s off to Exeter/West Greenwich for a fine season. I’m sure they’re going to do well in the playoffs.”

The Pats’ season came to a close after a successful campaign that saw them win their first playoff match since 2005, a preliminary round win over Barrington last Thursday, and reach the 10-win plateau for the first time since 2003.

Pilgrim’s appearance in the playoffs was its first since 2006.

“Very proud of my girls, and if nothing else I think they played a very great game,” Baggesen said. “It’s been a great season. We didn’t anticipate this, so to get this far we should be very, very proud.”