The Tigers second-round NCAA tournament struggles continued Saturday night in the PMAC, as LSU fell in five sets, 2-3 (25-18, 24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 10-15), to Texas A&M.The loss ended LSU’s season and was the first five-set victory of the season for the Aggies.”I thought our kids played their hearts out tonight, and we just got beat,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “That was the talk we had in the locker room. Credit Texas A&M because they played with great heart.”LSU senior outside hitter Brittnee Cooper did all she could to prevent the loss, knocking home a career-high 28 kills for the Tigers on a whopping .700 hitting percentage. She also had no errors.”She’s ridiculous. It’s unbelievable,” said Texas A&M coach Laurie Corbelli. “I don’t think we’ve faced any player that’s been that difficult to stop or slow down or that’s that dominant.”The first set was dominated by LSU, possibly because five A&M players had to have IVs before the match due to food poisoning. The Tigers outhit the Aggies, .517 to .188 in the set. LSU senior setter Sam Dabbs had 15 assists on the Tigers’ 17 kills while the Tigers’ five blocks helped out the defensive effort with sophomore libero Lauren Waclawczyk reeling in six digs.Dabbs finished the match with a career-high 64 assists, while Waclawczyk corralled 19 digs.The third set started out with a 5-1 Aggie lead before LSU went on an 8-2 run to take a 9-7 lead. The remainder of the set went back-and-forth with the largest lead coming at 17-14 in favor of the Tigers. Eventually LSU took the set on kill by senior outside hitter Marina Skender on a bizarre “dump” play.LSU freshman defensive specialist Meghan Mannari came into the match for fellow freshman defensive specialist Sam Delahoussaye with the score tied at 12 in the set.”We as a staff thought Sam was playing a little bit tight, and she was getting frustrated and playing tighter and tighter,” Flory said. “The pace of play was pretty fast, and A&M blasts the ball, they come at you, and that pace, Sam wasn’t adjusting to.”Friday night in the PMAC against in-state rival Tulane, the Tigers paced every facet of the match, easily sweeping by the Green Wave for the second time at home this season, 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-15).”Overall, LSU just outplayed us at every level and skill,” said Tulane coach Sinisa Momic. “We couldn’t follow our game plan because we couldn’t technically perform skills to some basic level. We weren’t even to the point where we could challenge them.”LSU’s offense hit at a .351 clip and recorded an assist on 44 of 45 kills, paced by Dabbs’ 36 assists.The Tigers’ defense held Tulane to a .038 hitting percentage while recording 12 team blocks.”Our defensive effort wasn’t all that great [in a 3-0 loss to] Rice last weekend,” said LSU senior outside hitter Lauren DeGirolamo. “We got back in the gym and worked on that this week … When you are blocking well it’s easier to play back-court defense.”The season leading up to the tournament was an overwhelming success for the Tigers, as the team captured its first Southeastern Conference Title since George H.W. Bush was in office (1991).”What a great way to go out your senior year,” Dabbs said. “This year has been exciting for us.”The Tigers compiled an 18-2 record in conference play, including defeating national and conference powerhouse Florida for the first time since 1991.Because of their conference success, multiple LSU players and Flory racked up postseason accolades.Flory was announced as the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year, her first such honor.In addition, Cooper was named SEC Player of the Year, the first Tiger to win the award in program history. The Houston native paced the league in hitting percentage (.390) and blocks per set (1.32) while ranking No. 7 in kills per set with 3.44.Dabbs and senior outside hitter Marina Skender also picked up All-SEC First Team accolades.LSU also battled two top-10 teams, Stanford and Nebraska, to five sets in pre-conference play.- – – -Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]