East Haven — Waterford fell short of winning the CIAC Class M volleyball championship on Saturday.

But when it came to effort, the Lancers believed they did everything humanly possible to win, which they showed during one of the most insane and absurd games in CIAC tournament history.

Tournament MVP Faith Rousseau had 35 kills, including the final four of the match, with four blocks to help top-seeded Seymour beat Waterford 25-22, 36-38, 26-24, 25-20 and repeat as state champion.

“We said before the game, ‘win or lose, we had to leave this gym knowing that we put 100 percent out,’” Waterford senior Ryleigh Gonyo said. “I think that’s what we did. We fought our hardest.

“It’s sad because it’s our seniors' last game, but walking out of here, I feel like we did really good.”

Gonyo had 35 kills and classmate Sabrina Kobyluck added 57 assists for No. 11 Waterford. It finished the season 21-6, including winning the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I tournament championship, its first tourney title.

The Lancers were seeking their second state title after winning Class M in 2015.

“We played extremely well,” Waterford head coach Matt Maynard said. “A couple more balls got more past our block than we’re used to, but ultimately they fought extremely hard and I’m proud of them.”

Rachel Miller added 17 kills and four aces for the Lancers.

Sophomore Emma Rousseau had 45 assists for the Wildcats (25-1) and Kolby Sirowich added 12 kills.

The Lancers thought they had some momentum after surviving eight game-points to win a ridiculous Game 2, 38-36.

Gonyo hit a kill to force a side-out and give Waterford game-point. Miller finished the game with a kill.

“That was crazy,” Gonyo said. “That’s the only way to describe it.”

Game 2 may have been a record-setting win as well. Matt Fischer, CIAC director of technology services, has tournament game scores dating back to 2002 with nothing matching 38-36. Matches also went to 15 points until the CIAC adopted rally scoring with 25-point games in 2003.

The closest to 38-36 was Masuk beating Wethersfield in 37-35 in Game 3 to win a 2013 Class L first-round match.

The highest-recorded score in championship history was Fitch beating Norwich Free Academy 35-33 in Game 2 of the 2008 Class LL final. NFA won the title in five games.

“That was really fun to be a part of,” Maynard said about Game 2. “It’s really a testament to the mental toughness of our girls. … They fought through and we took the set.”

The Lancers came back from a 20-16 deficit in Game 3. Miller hit a kill to force side-out, and she went on to serve two aces during a five-point run that put Waterford ahead, 21-20. It couldn’t close out the game, though.

The Lancers played from behind all of Game 4. Two kills by Gonyo and another by sophomore Kate Lange cut their deficit to 21-20 before Faith Rousseau hit a kill to end their run.

The longer the match went, the better Rousseau hit. She had 11 kills in Game 3 and nine in the final game.

“I think we let a lot of their kills get to us,” Gonyo said. “‘Oh, crap, there’s another one.’ But I think we played really hard.”

Rousseau closed it out from there with three more kills.

“I’m awful proud of our girls,” Maynard said. “They have nothing to hang their heads about. They fought. they did awesome. It was a great run.”

Gonyo said, “I’m so beyond proud of this team.”

n.griffen@theday.com