A day after a potential sweep of New Hampshire saw Texas A&M volleyball pushed to the edge in a five-set thriller, coach Jamie Morrison said he was simply looking for a response out of his team as it took on Louisiana Sunday at Reed Arena.
Morrison got the answer he was looking for, as the Aggies left no doubt with a 3-0 sweep of the Ragin’ Cajuns to close out the Texas A&M Invitational and secure a 7-0 start to the season for the second year in a row since Morrison took over the program.
“I was hoping for a response, and I thought we gave that,” Morrison said. “It was loud and resounding, and I thought we played really good volleyball for all three sets.”
Saturday’s rally to beat the Wildcats offered a shot in the arm for the Aggies with a boost of confidence that carried them to Sunday’s sweep despite Louisiana hanging close through the final two sets.
“I think we learn different lessons from different matches, and I thought last night gave us some confidence that we can be in dire straits and come out of it,” Morrison said. “We have that in our back pocket. I thought we could not play spectacularly. I think New Hampshire played pretty well last night, but I think it was a little bit of our side — and we bounced back the next day. I think those two lessons are really important.”
Junior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky led the way offensively with 15 kills while junior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and Pepperdine transfer outside hitter Emily Hellmuth added eight each. A&M showed efficiency on offense with a .340 hitting percentage while nine team blocks completed the balanced effort.
“We got the best of both worlds,” junior libero Ava Underwood said. “We got to do it all. “It shows that we can win in different ways. Yesterday, our defense and our passing was really good [with] our blocking. I think our offense has shined at times, too, so I think it’s really cool that we can win with just our offense, just our defense and then both of them working together. I think it’s a really, really cool thing, because that’s not common with a lot of teams.”
The Aggies came out of the gate with intensity in jumping to an 11-4 lead at the Cajuns’ first timeout before taking a 17-8 edge at Louisiana’s second timeout. A&M built upon its momentum for a 25-14 win in the opening set, spurred by four kills each from Lednicky and Hellmuth.
Louisiana announced its presence in the second set, staying neck-and-neck with A&M through most of the period. The Aggies found themselves tied with the Cajuns 12 times, including an even score at 15 following the break. A&M came out of the media timeout on a tear, as Cos-Okpalla’s three kills powered a 10-3 run to end the set at 25-18.
“[Louisiana] is a very talented team, but I think we did a good job adjusting and just focusing on playing like us,” Underwood said. “We weren’t trying to do too much to adjust to them. We made them adjust to us.”
The Cajuns built their greatest lead of the match with a 10-7 edge in the third set thanks to two of junior OH Lauryn Hill’s team-high 10 kills. A 6-1 streak featuring four consecutive attack errors put the Aggies back in the driver’s seat with a lead they wouldn’t lose. Louisiana got within a point of A&M after the media timeout, but another late 10-2 rally secured a 25-16 victory and a sweep for the Maroon and White.
“We talked during the pregame today about being willing to grind and rally,” Morrison said. “We came out with the idea that we’re going to respond to what happened last night.”
The weekend’s marathon of three matches across three days offered preparation for the Aggies’ close to the nonconference slate and beginning of the conference schedule. Cos-Okpalla said the difference in opposing play styles and schemes allowed A&M to adjust its own strategy for in-game situations, something she said will pay off down the road.
“I like to think of it as they’re different ways that we can win,” Cos-Okpalla said. “Whenever we play a team that maybe has a fast offense that we’ll face in the SEC, like Georgia, we’re going to have to adapt to win that way. If we were to beat Georgia, we couldn’t win the same way against South Carolina or something. Like Ava said, I think just facing different kinds of teams, different styles of play early on in the season, we can work against those types of systems, find ways to win, which I think we did this week.”
A&M’s grind continues with a road trip featuring three matches in four days against Northern Iowa, No. 8 Wisconsin and Troy. The Aggies return to the court at 6 p.m. Thursday against the Panthers in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
“We’re feeling really good as a team,” Underwood said. “The vibe is good. It’s going to be a busy week. We’re traveling, and travel is a lot. We’re pumped. I think we’re feeling really, really good about finding different ways to win if something’s not clicking.”
