Same song, different tune.

The match went the distance again, and with a fifth set count of 15-8 — the exact final count of their first matchup — Texas A&M hammered the proverbial nail in the coffin of the OU volleyball team’s playoff hopes Wednesday night.

With postseason aspirations out the window, the Sooners (11-15, 7-11 Big 12) now aim to finish strong in the season’s home finale on Saturday, when they host Iowa State. First serve in McCasland Field House is set for 3 p.m. with a free shuttle available for those parking at Lloyd Noble Center.

Despite the loss to the Aggies, assistant coach Kelly Files said the players can’t let the defeat hang over their heads.

“We told them that they had to keep their heads up,” Files said. “We still have two matches left in the season and [the players need] to continue to focus on working hard so we can finish off the season on a high note.”

That will come as no easy task against a Cyclone squad that is on pace for its third consecutive finish in the upper half of the Big 12 standings.

Currently fourth place in the Big 12 with a 9-8 conference record and 17-11 overall, Iowa State is only one game ahead of Baylor and Texas A&M in the conference standings and will be fighting to secure a postseason bid of it’s own.

“Iowa State plays exceptional defense and they run a fast offense,” Files said. “We will need to be patient and expect a lot of balls coming back over the net.”

The Sooners failed to tame the Cyclones during a previous meeting in early October, where the Cyclone defense held OU to a .086 hitting clip and didn’t allow a single Sooner to eclipse the double digit kill mark.

The speed of the Iowa State offense amounted to a .396 hitting percentage and 17.3 kills per set — three kills above its 14.25 season average.

Saturday’s match also marks Senior Day, where the squad’s lone senior — libero Lacy Barnes — will be honored prior to the match.

Barnes, who has been a regular starter for the Sooners since her junior year, was named captain as a senior and Files said it has been an honor to coach a player like Barnes.

“Lacy has been one of the best representatives of our program since I have been here,” she said. “From the beginning she has worked extremely hard on the court … she has always given 100 percent and has always gone the extra mile for her team and this program. Not only does she work hard on the court but she is a great student and a great ambassador in the community. She will be greatly missed.”

The Sooners will attempt to rebound from a razor-thin 3-2 defeat (25-15, 20-25, 18-25, 25-20, 8-15) to the Aggies Wednesday at McCasland Field House.

Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Francie Ekwerekwu led the offensive charge with a team-high 19 kills and a .359 hitting percentage. Barnes managed 22 digs on defense, while freshman setter Brianne Barker added 20 digs of her own, on top of 50 assists.

“We went to the fifth game against A&M at their place and we couldn’t pull it out then,” Barker said. “It’s frustrating. This is the game we had to have to go onto the postseason.”

An evening of back-and-forth momentum swings saw the Sooners coast an early 1-0 lead overall, holding Texas A&M to a .000 hitting clip in the first set.

Despite opening up a 12-7 lead during the second frame, the Aggies caught fire and strung together a 10-2 run to put the Sooners on the defensive. Coupled with a third-set performance that saw the Aggies commit only one attack error and hit .474 overall, the OU offense struggled to regain it’s rhythm until the fourth frame.

Behind four team blocks, OU forced a deciding fifth set, but committed six costly attack errors in the race to 15 points. The six points conceded helped the Aggies build a strong enough cushion to down the resilient Sooners.

“[Winning the fourth set] showed that we really wanted to win the game,” Ekwerekwu said. “Unfortunately game five didn’t go our way. We just couldn’t get things to work, it’s really unfortunate.”

Following Saturday’s match against the Cyclones, the Sooners will hit the road for their final match of the season, when they travel to Boulder, Colo., for a 6:30 p.m. contest against Colorado.