No. 6 Texas A&M Volleyball extended its winning streak after sweeping the Florida Gators on Wednesday, Nov. 12, including an exciting third-set comeback to give the Aggies their 21st win of the season.
A big part of A&M’s success was thanks to senior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky, who landed 14 kills.The Sugar Land native has secured double-digit kills in 14 straight appearances.
The Aggies started off hot early with a flurry of kills from senior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and Lednicky to go up 6-1, leading to an early Florida timeout.
The Gator timeout couldn’t stop the bleeding, though, as two errors from Florida on top of a kill from Lednicky brought the lead up to eight. The good times kept rolling for A&M late into the set, with a variety of Aggies landing kills.
A&M wasn’t fully in the clear, though, as a late run gave Florida momentum following an ace from sophomore MB Jaela Auguste, forcing A&M coach Jamie Morrison to call a timeout in hopes of halting the streak. Following the huddle, Lednicky ended the Gators four point streak with a kill to end the set, 25-17.
“I really wanted to cool them down and make sure we carry the momentum into the second set,” Morrison said.
The second set began with an early lead for the Aggies, who jumped out to a 13-9 advantage thanks to four early kills from Lednicky. Another Gator comeback anchored by Auguste kept the game within chomping distance, 19-17.
The Florida crowd came alive for the Gators, but the Aggies stayed composed. Lednicky came in clutch with back-to-back kills, followed by an ace from sophomore outside hitter Kyndal Stowers set up match point. Cos-Okpalla ended the set with a kill to finish the period, 25-18.
“I think we distributed really well, there’s a lot of people with kills,” Morrison said “I think when we’re doing that, on top of our passing, it’s really hard to beat us.”
Set 3 started with early momentum for the Maroon and White thanks to Cos-Okpalla, who contributed three kills and a block to jump out to a 6-2 lead. Florida answered with a 6-1 run of its own to even things up at 15 apiece.
The Gators took control late in the set, but kills from Cos-Okpalla and Stowers tied things up. The comeback effort was completed on the back of Lednicky, who dropped in a kill to secure the final frame.
Lednicky led the Aggies in kills on the night with 14, while Cos-Okpalla totaled seven blocks. Senior setter Maddie Waak led the way in assists with 32. A&M finished with an impressive .348 hit percentage and held Florida to a mere .188.
The win not only extended the Maroon and White’s winning streak to nine, but also kept the Aggies at the number two spot in the SEC standings. With the SEC tournament starting Nov. 21, every win matters to keep A&M’s seeding high.
Coming off its 13th sweep of the season, A&M will welcome Georgia to Reed Arena on Sunday, Nov. 16 at noon for the Aggies’ regular-season finale.
