King’s Fork High School’s boys’ volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to visiting Lake Taylor High School in the Group 4A South Region Eastern Section semifinals, while Nansemond River High School fell 3-0 to host Deep Creek High School in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

The Bulldogs dropped the first set 18-25, but then took the next two, 25-18, 25-15. The final two sets were very close, but the Titans prevailed in them both, 25-23, 15-13.

“Our mistakes cost us,” KF coach Angelique Gatling said.

She said Lake Taylor was hitting the ball every time and attacking without hesitation. She also noted passing is probably one of her team’s weak spots, and this match helped highlight that.

Gatling said there were some bad calls by the officials but pointed to the Titans as the deciding factor in the match overall.

“They had a little bit more heart than what we had,” she said.

The result definitely qualified as an upset of the higher-seeded Bulldogs to her.

“I was very surprised,” she said. “I figured we had a good run to actually taking the whole regional championship.”

Despite the loss, King’s Fork was not without standouts.

Gatling said junior outside hitter Drequan Wilson played tremendously and junior middle blocker Chris Roscoe stepped up with a lot of heart. She also highlighted junior outside hitter Uriah Dickerson.

The Bulldogs finished the 2014 season with an overall record of 18-7.

Though she was disappointed the season ended in the regional semifinals, Gatling said it was a good season overall. She noted that her players had to grasp a lot of material that she and her staff were throwing at them to help them develop, and they matured quickly.

“They did great, they did tremendous,” she said.

Only four teams made it into the regional playoffs. Deep Creek ended up winning the tournament on Thursday, but to reach the final, it first eliminated Nansemond River on Wednesday, 25-8, 25-17, 25-22.

“They were pounding the ball pretty good,” NR coach James Vann said of the Hornets. “We made a lot of errors,” including hitting and serving the ball long.

He said the Warriors experienced a recovery as the match progressed, and they even stayed ahead for a while in the third set, but were overtaken around the 20th point.

Vann said the deciding factor of the match was the Hornets’ experience.

“They had six kids that had played all four years together,” he said, noting Nansemond River had none.

Despite this disadvantage, Warrior players still turned in performances worthy of being highlighted. The players Vann mentioned included senior opposite hitter Zak McCarson, senior outside hitter Malcolm Nurse, junior middle blocker Keoni Broad, who was back from a concussion, and senior defensive specialist A.J. Perez, who had some key hits.

Nansemond River finished the season with an 8-12 overall record.

Vann said he had good athletes, but many had no experience in a sport that takes time to learn.

“By the time they learn the game, the season’s just about over,” he said.