The final score wasn’t the script the seniors had written.

Texas A&M earned a 3-1 victory against Iowa State on Saturday. The loss came on senior night for four ISU players.

Outside hitter Carly Jenson, right-side hitter Kelsey Petersen, middle back Deb Stadick and defensive specialist Caitlin Mahoney played their final regular season match in Hilton Coliseum. Despite the fact it did not end the way they wanted, it did not dampen the players’ spirits too much.

“It’s the best experience I could have had,” Jenson said of playing in Hilton. “I don’t think I would have changed it for anything. I’m so grateful for my teammates and my coaches. I’m sad that this is how the season ended, but we still have postseason to go.”

Jenson, the team’s top offensive threat, was held to 12 kills on 41 attempts. She hit .146 for the night. Petersen finished with four kills on seven attempts to hit .429. Stadick connected on both of her kill attempts while Mahoney finished with one assist and five digs.

The fact that those four seniors ended the season on a loss is not indicative of the way the team performed during their four years.

Jenson, Petersen, Stadick and Mahoney have the highest winning percentage of any senior class in school history. They have won 75 percent of the matches they were a part of.

That fact was not lost on coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.

“This group has been the core group of a team that’s been to the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16,” Johnson-Lynch said. “This is a great class. They’re a great group of kids and tremendous people. We’re lucky to have them here and thank them for the time that they were here.”

Petersen averaged 1.88 kills per set in her senior season, while Jenson averaged 3.04 kills per set in her senior campaign. Stadick recorded 491 career kills while averaging 1.47 per set her senior season. Mahoney finishes her career with 788 digs, averaging 2.15 in her senior season.

The seniors are looking forward to going through their final postseason run together.

“It’s bitter to end it like this, but it means nothing,” Mahoney said. “We still have the tournament and we know we’re a great team. It’s sad that it had to go like this, but we’re still positive and keeping our heads up.”

The seniors and the rest of the Cyclones will get at least one more chance in front of the home crowd. Iowa State will host Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Cyclones earned the No. 4 overall seed after finishing 22-5 overall on the season.