Perhaps they just plain pooped out.

The last of the six Metro teams still standing Saturday in the 24-team Westside Volleyball Invitational, Cedar Rapids Kennedy advanced to the semifinals of the championship bracket but was upended at the end by Class 4A top-ranked West Delaware.

West Delaware lost in the finals to Class 5A seventh-ranked Ankeny Centennial.

The Cougars’ first match in the star-studded tournament started at 9:30 Saturday morning, and the fifth and final one of the day began eight hours later.

“It was a long day in a big tournament with a lot of tough competition,” noted Kennedy middle hitter Brinley Milbrath. “I think we lost a little energy. We seemed to kind of peter out there at the end.”

Ranked fifth in Class 5A, Kennedy defeated Solon and Des Moines Roosevelt to open pool play in the morning. The Cougars then fell to arch rival and sixth-ranked Linn-Mar, 24-26, 20-22.

“That was a close match,” said Cougar setter Anna Fluent. “We were ahead of them but just couldn’t finish.

“It was the same as with West Delaware. We just made a few too many mistakes in a row.”

In a field that included 16 ranked teams, Linn-Mar and Kennedy were the only Metro schools to qualify for the championship bracket.

The Lions were unbeaten in pool play with wins over Roosevelt and Solon in addition to Kennedy. They fell, however, to West Delaware, 23-25, 26-24, 16-14, in the quarterfinals in a hard-fought three-set match.

The Cougars, meanwhile topped Class 2A sixth-ranked Dike–New Hartford, 25-18, 25-19, in the quarterfinals.

The Cougars next came out strong in their match with West Delaware. When the savvy senior Fluent dropped a dink shot between defenders, Kennedy went ahead 22-15. Her blocked shot closed out a 25-19 win in game one.

The scrappy West Delaware girls rallied back, however. Behind 12-10 in the second set, they reeled off seven straight points to take the lead. Kennedy stopped the bleeding with three straight kills from Macy Anderson, Emma Boote and Milbrath and then an ace serve by Tianna Drahn.

In a nip-and-tuck battle from then on, the Cougars got four more kills from Anderson, Boote, Haleigh Middendorf and Kayla Joyner. Fluent’s ace serve knotted the set at 22-all, but West Delaware finally prevailed 25-23.

The always-aggressive Anderson recorded two more kills in the tiebreaker game and Milbrath a block, but West Delaware pulled away for a 15-11 win.

“They seemed to have a little extra spark,” Milbrath said of the victors. “They were a little stronger.” Still, she pointed out, “We had some good competition today. This will help us get ready for regionals.”

Fluent said that all-in-all it was a successful tournament for the Cougars.

“I thought we played well together as a team. We really didn’t have many ups and downs," she said. "We stayed pretty consistent all day.”

QUARTERFINALS

Dowling def. Hempstead, 25-17, 17-25, 15-6 
Centennial def. Grundy Center, 25-18, 25-17
Kennedy def. Dike-New Hartfrd, 25-18, 25-19
West Delaware def. Linn-Mar, 23-25, 26-24, 16-14

SEMIFINALS

Centennial def. Dowling, 15-25, 25-23, 15-7
West Delaware def. Kennedy, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11

FINALS

Centennial def. West Delaware, 15-25, 25-22, 15-12

WASHINGTON RESULTS

Lost to Dowling, 21-8, 21-10
Lost to Wahlert, 21-16, 21-12
Lost to Mount Vernon, 21-9, 21-7
Lost to Tripoli, 25-13, 25-11

XAVIER RESULTS

Lost to Dike-New Hartford, 21-18, 21-11
Lost to West Liberty, 22-20, 30-28
Beat Assumption, 21-17, 13-21, 15-10
Beat Williamsburg, 25-18, 25-19
Lost to Assumption, 25-21, 25-17

MARION RESULTS

Lost to Grundy Center, 23-21, 10-21, 15-6
Lost to North Cedar, 21-13, 21-17
Beat Jefferson, 21-14, 21-15
Beat West Liberty, 18-25, 25-19, 15-8
Lost to Wahlert, 18-25, 25-16, 15-10

JEFFERSON RESULTS

Lost to Grundy Center, 21-10, 21-14
Lost to North Cedar, 21-13, 21-17
Lost to Marion, 21-14, 21-15
Beat Waterloo West, 25-22, 26-24
Beat Tripoli, 25-18, 25-19
Beat Assumption, 25-17, 25-14

LINN-MAR RESULTS

Beat Kennedy, 26-24, 22-20
Beat DM Roosevelt, 14-21, 21-12, 15-8
Beat Solon, 21-7, 21-12
Lost to West Delaware, 23-25, 26-24, 16-14

KENNEDY RESULTS

Lost to Linn-Mar, 26-24, 22-20
Beat DM Roosevelt, 21-11, 21-16
Beat Solon, 21-11, 21-9
Beat Dike-New Hartford, 25-18, 25-19
Lost to West Delaware, 15-25, 25-22, 15-12