The LSU volleyball team’s season ended Friday with an NCAA tournament loss to No. 14 UCLA.The first-round exit was just the last stop in a topsy-turvy, roller coaster season.The season started off with a lot more downs than ups.The Tigers saw arguably their best player in senior outside hitter Marina Skender go down to an ACL tear in spring practice.LSU then had to play its first nine matches on the following Hurricane Gustav’s destruction to Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas, compiling a 5-4 record during the month-long road trip that had the team on the road at one point for 10-straight days.After finally getting to play a few home matches, the Tigers encountered another disaster when they lost Preseason All-Southeastern Conference Team member junior middle blocker Lauren DiGirolamo in a home match against Ole Miss.”Lauren is a huge loss,” said LSU coach Fran Flory after the match. “She’s been our stabilizing force in the middle for the last three years.”The Tigers had trouble finding their rhythm after DiGirolamo’s injury, going only 5-4 in their next nine matches without the junior.”It started off good, but then it kind of got cloudy for me for a second because everyone was getting hurt,” said LSU senior outside hitter Kyna Washington. “I was like, ‘No!’ But, you know, you have to pick it up and let it go. What happens, happens. You have to make the best of it.”And the team began to make the best of the situation, going on a six-match winning streak to finish out the season at 18-9, 13-7 SEC, and wrap up a spot in the NCAA tournament.”Fran has always been someone that has prepared us to be adaptable,” said senior libero Elena Martinez. “She has been a coach that has prepared us to face adversity along the way, and we faced our fair share of it this year, but we have worked really hard to not allow it to faze us.”Flory was impressed with the way the team — especially her two seniors — handled the tough situations throughout the season.”The best leaders of it have been Elena and Kyna,” Flory said. “This is supposed to be the year we had a best chance if we had Marina and if we had L.D. and we had all the pieces put together to have a shot at winning the overall SEC. But then the pieces started to fall apart. Very easily, those two could have easily mailed it in and said, ‘Forget it.’ But they didn’t.”They are true kids. They are true to the program, true to themselves and true to their teammates and this staff.”Three Tigers were also awarded SEC honors at the end of the regular season.Senior libero Elena Martinez was named Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team All-SEC.Junior middle blocker Brittnee Cooper was named First Team All-SEC.Freshman middle blocker Michele Williams was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. She was one of two unanimous selections to the team.—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]