The McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa was the latest stop for the Texas A&M Volleyball team as it defeated Northern Iowa, 3-1, on Thursday.
It was only the third meeting between both programs. The most recent matchup took place in the Texas A&M Invitational in 2023, which the Aggies won in a three-set match. A&M led the all-time series 2-0 before capturing another win in non-conference play.
“This was a good team win we played tonight in a fun and hostile environment,” coach Jamie Morrison said in a press release. “The aim coming into the match was trying to pick our opponents apart, we knew they were going to be good and we would have to grind, and I thought we did a good job of that early.”
Entering the match, the Aggies were tied for the third-best start in program history with a 7-0 record and led the country with 14.04 assists per set and 14.96 kills per set. Against the Panthers, the Aggies registered 63 kills, 61 assists and 55 digs, which showed why they are efficient in so many different aspects of the game.
In the first set, A&M took a narrow 25-22 win with 13 assists, 14 kills and 15 digs. Junior outside hitter Emily Hellmuth and junior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky led A&M with five kills each while junior setter Maddie Waak finished with 13 assists. Waak has over 1,500 assists in her career and entered the night as the leader in the nation with 11.83 assists per set.
Set 2 consisted of the Panthers pulling out a tight 25-21 victory, testing the Aggies’ offense and defense again. After trailing 10-7, the Aggies went on a 5-0 run to take their biggest lead of the set courtesy of kills from Lednicky, junior OH Taylor Humphrey and junior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and attack errors by the Panthers. The Aggies’ defense could not pull itself together after a service error that gave way to a 9-5 Northern Iowa run.
A&M found itself in trouble again during the third set after trailing 11-4 with two straight 4-0 runs by UNI, but Hellmuth inched her team back into the game with back-to-back-to-back kills to get within three points. A&M surrendered a few more points but went back-and-forth with UNI and eventually caught them to tie the match at 21.
After a UNI set point led Morrison to call a timeout to speak with his team, A&M collected back-to-back points to even it up at 24. Numerous set points were exchanged before the Aggies were able to maintain their composure and climb their way back to win an intense, hard-fought set, 30-28, on a kill by Lednicky.
“I’m really happy with how we were able to find a way to turn the match in that third set, and it changed the vibe of the whole place for the fourth,” Morrison said in the release.
Momentum carried into the fourth set for the Maroon and White going full throttle, taking a five-point lead with two kills by Lednicky. The lead grew to as many as 11 points after attack errors by UNI and with kills from junior MB Morgan Perkins, Lednicky, Humphery, Hellmuth and Cos-Okpalla, who earned her third SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor and first SEC Player of the Week honor on Monday.
On the night, the Maroon and White made numerous contributions to earn their eighth win. Lednicky led the team with 23 points and 20 kills. Hellmuth also contributed 16.5 points and 16 kills while Stinson had 15 digs and Waak had 47 assists.
“Our team is so balanced, which makes life so much easier for each individual on the court,” Hellmuth said in the release. “I know if I come in and I’m not getting set, it’s OK because we have so many weapons. It also opens us all up and lets us play free out there.”
A&M will face its biggest test of the season at 7 p.m. Saturday, traveling to UW Field House against No. 7 Wisconsin, streaming live on the Big Ten Network.
