While most of the student population was watching the football team Saturday afternoon, the volleyball team was wrapping up its season in Baton Rouge, La., against the LSU Tigers.

The Bulldogs were downed in four sets (19-25, 25-12, 25-20 and 25-16) to conclude a season that had its share of ups and downs.

After beginning the season at 7-3, the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-10 Southeastern Conference) lost their next five matches in a row, including defeats to top-10 teams Texas and Florida.

Georgia struggled at the start of SEC play before going on a five game winning streak that saw the Bulldogs defeat the Gators for the first time since the 1990 season, and LSU.

One of Georgia’s preseason goals was to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004 and after defeating definite tournament teams such as Florida, South Carolina and LSU, the hopes of getting in the tournament looked bright.

But Georgia lost five of its final eight matches of the season and turned much of that optimism to cynicism.

Georgia now must say goodbye to one of its all-time greats, Maria Taylor. Taylor, a senior from Alpharetta, is among the top-10 in most of the offensive categories at Georgia.

Anjelica Partridge from Chattanooga, Tenn., is also graduating.

As of press time, it was not certain if the Bulldogs would make the NCAA tournament, but hopes look bleak after losing two matches in the past two weeks.