It all happened so quickly. The whistle blew, the match began and then, moments later, Gorham’s volleyball team was trailing Greely, 10-0, in the first game of last Wednesday’s western Maine final.

The home fans roared and the visiting Rams looked somewhat nervous. They did play better from that point on, but could never really recover from the poor start, dropping the match to the Rangers, 3-0 (25-13, 25-12 and 25-23).

No shame in that. Greely (16-0) went on to beat Mount Desert Island three days later for their 49th consecutive victory and third straight state title.

Still, the Rams were hoping for a better showing against a squad that they had been improving against all season.

“We just have a really hard time believing that we can do it,” Rams coach Shari Chapman said. “It didn’t start happening till the end of the third game.”

Unforced errors and bad serves plagued Gorham in the opening game, but there was also Rangers middle hitter Amanda Gray, who struck for 15 kills in the match and whose jump serve is a weapon itself.

The Greely senior’s running leap to smash a winner over the net came after kills by Megan Bilodeau and Morgan Carlson had finally put the Rams on the board.

Then Gray served in the middle of the game, after her opponents’ nerves had settled and the score was 14-5. She put the game out of reach.

Gray came back with two kills and a big block to help the Rangers to a 7-1 lead in the second game. Gorham again battled back, but fell short.

In the third game, a pair of kills by Carlson gave the Rams the early 4-1 lead, and they played the type of volleyball they were capable of playing. Tied at 21, Gray came through again for her squad with a big kill and the Rangers held on for the win.

“I think we were definitely nervous in the beginning, but it was more just mental,” said Gorham setter Deandra Guidi (11 assists). “We had to push a little harder and that didn’t come out until the end. The third game was fun, and it was nice to know that we could still do it.”

The Rams finished the season at 11-5. A regular-season loss to Biddeford was avenged with a satisfying 3-1 win over the Tigers in the regional semi-finals. The other four losses came against Greely.

“Gorham has gotten a lot better this year and they deserve a lot of credit for how they played,” said Rangers coach Kelvin Hasch. “We just came out and put it all together today.”