It’s been 10 months since the last time Texas A&M volleyball stepped onto the hardwood. Since then, the Maroon and White have brought in six new members to the team, and coach Jamie Morrison has had his first full offseason with the new Aggie squad.
To start their 2024 season, the Aggies visited Mobile, Alabama for the Jaguar Invitational. The first opponent for the Aggies was South Alabama, also coming off an NCAA tournament appearance.
The Maroon and White ended up sweeping the Jaguars to go into the win column to start the season. The first two sets were close with final scores of 25-22 and 28-26, with the second set going into extended play. However, the Aggies got hot in the third set and closed out the sweep with a set score of 25-11.
The Aggies had a total of 51 kills compared to the Jaguars’ 25, with two big contributions coming from junior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky and junior transfer outside hitter Emily Hellmuth with 15 and 13, respectively.
The first two kills of the season for the Aggies were from Lednicky, who put A&M up 2-1. Afterward, both the Aggies and the Jaguars went back and forth for the lead until A&M took the lead at 10-8 in the first set.
A&M continued its run in the first set, pushing its lead to 17-12. The Jaguars then closed in on A&M and tied the set with a score of 21-21.
However, Lednicky took the lead for the Aggies at 22-21, and they never looked back. Hellmuth scored two kills set up by junior transfer setter Maddie Waak, putting A&M in position for set point. The Maroon and White walked away up 1-0 after Waak set up Lednicky for her to hit her sixth kill of the set.
Set two of the match started with South Alabama holding onto a tight lead until the Maroon and White were able to tie the set, 10-10. A bad set by Jaguars redshirt junior S Anna Loberg contributed to the stalemate.
The Aggies were unable to take any sort of lead until a kill by Hellmuth allowed A&M to go into the set’s media timeout up 15-14.
Out of the timeout, both teams continued to go back and forth, ending up tied at 24-24. A setup from Waak helped junior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpolla get a kill to put A&M in position to win the set with only one more point needed. The set ended up going into extended play due to a service error from Waak.
Another kill from Hellmuth gave A&M another chance to end things in the set, but redshirt freshman OH Erika Spankus tied the set at 26-26. The Aggies set up match point for the third time in the set off of a kill by Lednicky, who then closed out the set with her 10th kill of the match, putting A&M up 2-0.
The third set began with the Aggies building an early 3-1 lead off of three kills from Cos-Okpolla, Lednicky and junior transfer OH Taylor Humphrey. The Jaguars were able to make it close at 4-3, but A&M went on an 8-2 run, forcing South Alabama into a timeout. Hellmuth led the way for the Aggies in the run by scoring four of their eight kills.
The hot streak for the Aggies continued after that timeout, as they forced another timeout from the Jaguars after extending their lead to 17-7. With no signs of slowing down, the Maroon and White kept their feet on the gas pedal until a block assist from Cos-Okpalla forced the Jaguars into an error that ended the set at 25-11, securing the match for the Aggies.
The Maroon and White will stay in Mobile, Alabama for a match against McNeese on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 11 a.m.
