WARDEN - The momentum of two straight wins wasn't enough for the Warden Cougars when they faced the undefeated Connell Eagles at home Thursday night.

The Cougars lost in three games (19-25, 9-25, 9-25) dropped the team's record to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the South Central Athletic Conference East division.

The young Cougars weren't ready for the athleticism and had trouble adjusting to the speed of the game.

"Everything [Connell] did was just faster and quicker," head coach Dennis Treat said. "We played a pretty good game one, but in games two and three they just picked up the pace and we didn't do a very good job of staying with them."

The Warden offense sputtered which allowed the Eagles to constantly be on the attack. Treat chalked the offensive struggles up to not receiving serves well and poor passing.

"We were giving them free balls and in turn they would take those and spike it back at us," he said. "We were on our heels in the last two games especially."

The Eagles have returned most of a team that took first in the South Central Athletic Conference last season, including last year's league MVP Savannah Egbert. The firepower along the Connell front line and experience gave the Eagles a tremendous advantage Thursday.

"[Egbert's] a tough one to stop," Treat said. "They're just all-around were far more experience than our team is at this point and it showed tonight. They were definitely the better team."

Outside hitter Allycia Gonzales led the Cougars with three kills, libero Ashley Martinez added 13 digs and middle hitter Selena Landeros contributed four blocks.

After playing one game in the win against Wahluke High School Tuesday, middle hitter Andrea Contreras saw more playing time against the Eagles. Contreras is recovering from a sprained ankle she suffered Sept. 19 in the win over River View High School.

"She moved pretty well for what that injury was," Treat said. "We played her in one game on Tuesday and just limited her time just to see how she'd do."

The Cougars will look to rebound in Burbank against the Columbia/Burbank Coyotes Oct. 1.