For the 30th time since 1976, the Texas A&M and Texas State volleyball teams met at Reed Arena on Friday. The Aggies defeated the Bobcats in three sets, earning their 18th-straight win against Texas State. A&M is now on a four-game winning streak to start the season.

The 12th Man showed up early on a night when all freshmen who attended and wore their Fish Camp shirt were admitted free. An attendance of 3,361 made it the fourth-largest crowd at Reed Arena in volleyball history, making a significant impact not only on the home team, but also the head coach.

“There were so many times I looked over there and saw not only the student section but them being active in what was going on,” coach Jamie Morrison said. “I was just talking to someone that was passing by saying that this was a fun atmosphere, and I said this is starting to be just what I envisioned.”

The Maroon and White totaled 51 kills, 47 assists and 37 digs, with contributions from the whole team, including junior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky, junior outside hitter Taylor Humphrey, junior setter Maddie Waak and senior libero Ellee Stinson.

In the first set, A&M began dominating the court, with a final score of 25-13, before a tightly contested second set that was extended to 26-24. A&M gained its composure in the third set, closing out the evening with a sescore of 25-19.

“Overall, I am really happy with the match,” Morrison said. “I thought we were balanced. I thought we were playing good volleyball with the exception of 15 points in the second set.”

After A&M took a 13-5 lead in the first set, it went on a fast 5-0 run courtesy of three kills by Lednicky, one by Humphrey and an attack error from Texas State. A&M exchanged a few more points before Lednicky capped off the first set with a kill.

Set 2 gave the Aggies thier biggest challenge of the night. Knotted up at 8, the Bobcats scored the next five points, forcing Morrison to use a timeout to speak with his team.

“During one of the timeouts, we talked about being dialed in on the small touches,” Morrison said. “We are going back to set up the next person on the next contact to make their play, and I thought we got to it.”

Not long after, A&M gained ground with four straight points to inch its way back, still trailing 16-13. A pivotal kill by Lednicky, an ace by junior L Ava Underwood and a couple of attack errors boosted the momentum. A&M tied the game at 22 before quickly unloading three kills by Lednicky, junior middle blocker Morgan Perkins and Humphrey to seal the set.

Set 3 consisted of the Aggies gaining an advantage, going on a 5-0 run and another 6-0 run. After being tied 2-2, two kills from Lednicky and Waak had the Aggies rolling early. The Bobcats got within four points, but it was not enough before five of the next six points put the Aggies up, 18-7.

Texas State scored the next seven of eight points, but Lednicky shut down the rally with a kill to end the match, firing up the A&M fan base further.

“We work so hard day in and day out to come put on a show for everyone, so when we do that, when we get big wins like that, it’s just super fun to see the support keep growing.” Lednicky said.

The next match for A&M will be against Temple on Friday, Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. streaming live on SEC Network+.