Last time out, Texas A&M volleyball upset No. 24 Auburn behind junior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky’s season-high 23 kills and 18-dig performance. Her outing was enough to earn her SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time this season and just the third weekly conference recognition of her career.
“She’s getting smarter by the day at playing this game,” coach Jamie Morrison said in Monday’s press conference. “She’s getting better as an all-around volleyball player, allowing her to be there all six rotations.”
The Aggies went on the road on Wednesday and showed out against Ole Miss, defeating the Rebels 3-1. Lednicky nearly replicated her career night, racking up 20 kills and 15 digs. Junior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla tallied six blocks on the night, and junior libero Ava Underwood recorded a season-high 21 digs.
“The thing I’m most proud of is we found different ways to win,” Morrison said. “I didn’t know exactly how it would play out against this team. I didn’t know if we would hold them to a negative-2% efficiency in the first set or it might be a barnburner where we both needed 15 kills. We found different ways in each of those sets.”
A&M got off to a hot start in the first set, taking an early 5-0 lead. Junior setter Maddie Waak, who led the SEC in averaging 11.08 assists per frame heading into the match, made her presence felt early, landing assists on three of the Aggies’ first five points. The Rebels were able to cut the A&M lead to 15-10 at the narrowest thanks to errors by the Aggies, but it would prove to not be enough with the Maroon and White taking Set 1, 25-17.
The second frame was a different story. The teams battled it out to start the set, staying within a point of each other until the Rebels pulled out to a 12-5 lead on the back of Ole Miss sophomore outside hitter Shayla Meyer’s three service aces.
Lednicky and the Aggies tried to battle back, but the Rebels’ lead proved to be too much to overcome. Ole Miss took the second set, 25-17.
“I thought the first set, we did a really good job in transition,” Morrison said. “The second set, we were a little sloppy on our first contact, both serve-receive and free balls and defense and all those things. We talked about it in the huddle and cleaned that up in the third and fourth and all of the sudden we’re out of here, 3-1.”
With the match tied, the third set offered another back-and-forth bout. The Aggies held a narrow lead the entire frame, with the Rebels threatening until the end. The Maroon and White were able to pull away after key kills from Lednicky and junior OH Emily Hellmuth. A&M came away with the third set, 25-18.
The fourth set was all Aggies. A&M took an early 5-0 lead off of three straight errors from Ole Miss and another kill from Lednicky, forcing Ole Miss to call a timeout. The Aggies kept their foot on the gas the entire set and did not trail. A&M would go on to take the frame, 25-18.
The Aggies would win the match, 3-1. Wednesday’s victory moves the all-time series record with Ole Miss to 20-3. Prior to the match, the Rebels were undefeated at home this year. A&M moves to 13-3 on the season and 3-1 in SEC play after the win.
“The SEC is a grind this year and every team is good,” Morrison said. “I thought Ole Miss imposed themselves in the second set and I thought our response in the third and fourth was exactly what we needed and that was to play Texas A&M volleyball, which is hard to beat.”
The Aggies will remain on the road, traveling to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to face the LSU Tigers at 1 p.m. Sunday on SEC Network+.
