Texas A&M volleyball began 2025 at No. 9 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, now the Aggies are one of just two teams left standing. After sweeping 1-seed Pittsburgh 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament Semifinals, A&M will take on a Southeastern Conference foe in 1-seed Kentucky in the national championship match, on Sunday, Dec. 21.
In just his third season in College Station, coach Jamie Morrison has led the Aggies in their furthest postseason run in program history. But the accolades don’t stop there, as the win over Pitt made A&M the third 3-seed in NCAA Tournament history to dispatch two No. 1 seeds.
There’s been just one statement — or question rather — that has invoked the Aggies’ mindset throughout this unpredicted postseason on the court: “Why not us?”
“I think we are considered the underdog in a lot of these moments just because we haven’t been here before, but like we know we have all the right pieces, so why not us, you know?” senior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky said after the Aggies Semifinals victory.
A&M has carried that mindset all tournament, including a reverse sweep of 2-seed Louisville, upset of overall 1-seed Nebraska and sweep of Pitt in the Aggies’ first Final Four appearance in program history. Now the Fightin’ Farmers have their eyes set on the national championship, but one team stands in the way, the Wildcats.
Under coach Craig Skinner, Kentucky has become a volleyball powerhouse, being crowned SEC regular-season champion every year since 2017. The Wildcats also took home the 2020 NCAA National Championship and the 2025 SEC Tournament Championship.
The Wildcats are 30-2 on the season, with their only losses to two teams the Aggies defeated en route to the title game, Nebraska and Pitt. However, Kentucky does have the blueprint for taking down A&M after defeating the Aggies 3-1 in Reed Arena on Oct. 8.
The Aggies will seek a different result in their rematch, as they’ve built a mountain of momentum throughout their tournament run. If there is any coach cut out for the job, it is AVCA National Coach of the Year Jamie Morrison, who has created a winning mindset within the A&M locker room despite the lack of program prestige.
“It’s pretty much every day we’ve heard it like, just be us,” senior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla said about the confidence Morrison has instilled within the Aggies. “And not only just us as a team, us as individuals because that just is what makes us, us or makes me, me or Kyndal, Kyndal or Logan, Logan, like we all bring something different to the team.”
The Aggies have done extraordinary things on the court by being themselves, boasting four total AVCA All Americans, including First Teamer Cos-Okpalla, Second Teamer Lednicky and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Kyndal Stowers and Third Teamer senior setter Maddie Waak.
Each member of Morrison’s squad brings their own unique ability to the A&M rotation. Cos-Okpalla managed to lead the country in total blocks with 195, halting even the mightiest of offenses. But the Flower Mound native isn’t just a ruthless defender, she’s also extremely efficient when set up on offense, leading the SEC with a .430 hitting percentage.
Allowing Cos-Okpalla to catch defenses off guard is Lednicky, A&M’s kill leader with 456 on the season. The fourth-generation Aggie is one of the greatest to ever dawn the maroon and white, as she earned the third most career kills in program history in the win against Nebraska.
But the breakout star for A&M in 2025 has been Stowers, who led the Aggies in kills versus both Nebraska and Pitt. After medically retiring from Baylor in 2023 and stepping away from the court in 2024, Stowers has emerged as an elite weapon in the Aggie offense.
Orchestrating the Aggies offense is Waak, as the second-year LSU transfer has certainly left her mark in Aggieland. She leads the SEC in assists with 1,328 on the season, breaking the rally-scoring era record for A&M. With such a star-studded lineup the Aggies are able to constantly keep opponents guessing.
“So great because she [Waak] has her [Cos-Okpalla] in the middle and then Kyndal’s also there on the outside, so it’s pretty, it’s pretty fun,” Lednicky said.
“Perfect offense I would say,” Cos-Okpalla said in response.
Perfect, that’s the only way to describe the circumstance that A&M is in. With a senior-laden roster and a winning mindset, the Aggies have established themselves as a team not to be reckoned with. They say they know they deserve to be here with the chance at making even more program history.
“We have everything that it takes to win a national championship,” Morrison said “And everything that we’ve done has been built on a base of people that were here from the very beginning. And I think it’s just the beginning of what our program is going to do.”
A&M has all the momentum in the world but will certainly need to correct its mistakes from the first meeting against Kentucky. However, momentum doesn’t matter in the eyes of Morrison, as the Aggies have fought their way to be here, with history at their fingertips by simply being themselves.
“I think volleyball is a game of momentum if — this is going to sound bad — you have a weak mind,” Morrison said. “ … They’re able to be themselves, and they’re able to be happy. They’re able to be joyful.”
