In a season filled with inconsistency and a slew of unexpected obstacles, the LSU volleyball team did not attain all of its preseason goals, but its coach couldn’t be more proud.

The Tigers, who finished the season 12-17, failed to win the Southeastern Conference Western Division for the first time since 2004 and will not play in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.

LSU’s struggles began with a difficult non-conference schedule, during which it played four Top-25 teams in its first six games. Each of these matches resulted in the Tigers being swept in straight sets.

Adding to the Tigers’ early-season woes, they went almost an entire month into the season before getting a chance to play in front of a home crowd. The Tiger Classic, their regularly scheduled home tournament, was played in Houston in an attempt to avoid Hurricane Isaac.

LSU also struggled with injuries throughout the season, most notably a high ankle sprain suffered by senior libero Meghan Mannari that forced her to sit out of the Tigers’ first six conference games.

But LSU coach Fran Flory made it clear that this season should be considered far from a total loss for the Tigers.

“As a coach, the most you can ask from a team is that they play hard for you and they stay true to what you’re trying to accomplish,” Flory said. “… The key to this team is they don’t have any quit in them. … I wouldn’t trade this team for anything.”

The tigers met a number of individual goals were met this season.

Mannari and senior defensive specialist Sam Delahoussaye each reached 1,000 career digs, becoming the 12th and 13th players in program history to reach the milestone respectively.

“Four years really does fly by,” Mannari said in a release after reaching the milestone. “… My coaches, I couldn’t thank them any more. They’ve given me a great four years.”

On the offensive side, senior outside hitter Madie Jones became the 19th player in program history to post 1,000 career kills and sophomore setter Malorie Pardo became just the eighth Tiger to dish out 2,000 career assists.

Jones was named to the All-SEC Second Team after leading the Tigers offensively with 389 kills and a 3.64 per set average.

“[Jones] has been an outstanding student-athlete in all aspects of our program for the past four years and has enhanced the tradition of our program,” Flory said in a news release.

LSU is saying goodbye to four seniors – three of whom were regular starters this season. In a news release after LSU’s final match, Flory said the seniors contributed to the team in a way that was impossible to explain and that they helped pave the way to success for the younger members of the squad.

“The bottom line is our young team grew up a little bit,” Flory said in the release. “We still [have] some growing up to do. This team will get better, and we’ll be back.”