RIO DE JANEIRO -- Canada's Sarah Pavan broke down as she hugged her husband outside the Beach Volleyball Arena. Teammate Heather Bansley sat motionless on a production shed ramp nearby, a towel covering her head and face.

The crushing disappointment of coming a win away from the semifinal at the Rio Games had left Canada's top-ranked women's team feeling numb.

It was hard for either player to get the words out after dropping a 2-0 decision to Germany's Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst on Sunday afternoon.

It was hard for anyone to hear them with the booming player introductions for the next match on the go, a cruel reminder that the tournament is far from over.

Pavan and Bansley won't be around to enjoy it. They came up with a flat effort in their biggest match since first teaming up in 2013.

"If we had lost that game and played our best, that would be one thing," Pavan said, her voice cracking at times. "But I think we left a lot out there so it's a little hard to swallow right now."

Rio was their Olympic debut and both will learn from the experience. But to win four straight matches in 2-0 fashion before coming undone in the quarter-final left them searching for answers.

"We had a bad match," said Canadian coach Scott Davenport. "It's not a good time to have a bad match against a strong team."

Ludwig and Walkenhorst showed why they have won two straight European Championships.

Their strong service game created steady pressure. They also minimized Pavan's height advantage -- she's a towering six foot five -- by regularly chipping the ball around the court.

Germany took the opener 21-14 and completed the 37-minute match when they took the second set by the same score.

"They did a good job taking away our strengths and we didn't make any adjustments," Davenport said.

The Canadians planned to bring the Germans into the middle of the court and mix up their looks on blocks and defence. Ludwig and Walkenhorst weren't fazed and wouldn't let their opponents gain any momentum.

"Once we started giving up some points in serve reception, we kind of hit the panic button a little bit and just started spinning our wheels," Pavan said. "We tried to get a grip on things and tried to get going.

"But they had their foot on our throats by that point."

The match served as a warmup ahead of the main event for the host country. Brazil's Larissa Franca Maestrini and Talita Rocha edged Switzerland's Nadine Zumkehr and Joana Heidrich in a 2-1 thriller.

The Brazilians embrace beach volleyball the way Canada treats hockey. Spectators have frequently packed the 12,000-seat venue on one of the world's most famous beaches during the competition.

Two more quarter-finals were scheduled for Sunday night.

Pavan, from Kitchener, Ont., and Bansley, from Waterdown, Ont., enjoyed a breakout season in 2015 and have played well again this year. They eliminated Victoria's Jamie Broder and Toronto's Kristina Valjas in the round of 16.

The two men's teams -- Chaim Schalk of Red Deer, Alta., and Calgary's Ben Saxton and the Richmond Hill, Ont., duo of Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter -- have also been eliminated.

"Next time around we'll have that experience and know what to expect," Pavan said. "We won't be the new kids here anymore."

Canada's lone Olympic beach volleyball medal came at the 1996 Atlanta Games when the men's duo of John Child and Mark Heese won bronze.