The LSU volleyball season is quickly winding to a close, with just three regular season matches remaining.Sunday’s final home match against Alabama will mark the last time LSU’s four seniors — middle blocker Brittnee Cooper, setter Sam Dabbs, middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo and outside hitter Marina Skender — will play in the PMAC. “This group of seniors has probably left the strongest legacy in terms of success in the program,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “The other kids have built and built and built, but these kids built and actually got to reap the rewards.”The senior with the shortest tenure at LSU is Dabbs, who transferred to LSU after spending two seasons at Louisville. Since the move to Baton Rouge, Dabbs has made an enormous impact on the team. She played in all 28 matches during the 2008 season and was selected as the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Newcomer of the Year. This season, Dabbs has kept the beat going and has 197 digs and 102 kills. She was also named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Week earlier in the season.”I so much wish we could have had Sam Dabbs for four years,” Flory said. “Look at the impact she had on the program in just two years.”The Tigers also boast a pair of fifth-year seniors in DeGirolamo and Skender. DeGirolamo has had an impact on the team from the moment she stepped on the court. In 2006, following her redshirt year in 2005, DeGirolamo was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. She was named College Volleyball Update Player of the Week once and earned ESPN Academic All-District first-team honors in 2007.But 2008 was a setback year for DeGirolamo. After playing in LSU’s first 12 matches, she tore her ACL, which ended her season. But DeGirolamo’s 2009 return has led to 237 digs and 123 kills. Skender, nicknamed “The Croatian Sensation,” was a second-team All-SEC player as a freshman in 2005. Skender was named to the All-SEC First Team in 2006. “[DeGirolamo] and Marina [Skender], first off, have been here through all five years,” Flory said. “They trusted us early, when we were on the cusp and not quite there and needed a push to get us through.”Then, there’s the superstar Cooper. Cooper leads the team in kills with 339 and has an attack percentage of .388 on the season. She also spent the last two summers playing the USA National A2 team, which competes internationally.But Cooper did not always have the swagger that she carries now.”[Cooper] was a young, shy kid who wasn’t sure how to take advantage of the chance to play,” Flory said. “But out of the group of four, she has come the furthest personally in terms of developing.” Now that the fearsome foursome is wrapping up its illustrious careers in the PMAC, there are plenty of mixed feelings.”I’m sad cause it’s going to be our last time to play at home,” Dabbs said. “But I’m excited because after four years of playing, your body takes some wear and tear.”But the group wants to make sure that the legacy they leave is one of excellence.”I hope we are the team to finally take LSU to the Final Four and actually accomplish the goal of winning a national championship,” Cooper said. —-Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]