It was deja vu in Reed Arena for No. 14 Texas A&M volleyball as it secured its second straight 3-0 victory after sweeping the New Hampshire Wildcats 3-0 on Friday, Sept. 19.
The Aggies started slow in Set 1, going down 2-0 before eventually gaining a 7-6 lead thanks to an attack error by Wildcat senior outside hitter Millie Grove. New Hampshire kept itself within scratching distance until A&M took a 17-13 lead, forcing Wildcat coach Christopher Feliciano to call a timeout.
Whatever Feliciano discussed during the timeout did not pay off for the Wildcats, as they proceeded to drop the first set, 25-17. Sophomore OH Kyndal Stowers led the way for A&M’s offense in the first set with six kills, but senior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla secured the set with an emphatic spike right in front of a New Hampshire player.
“I thought we started a little bit slow, but I think we got better in the first, and I thought we got better throughout the match, so I’m happy about that,” coach Jamie Morrison said.
Set 2 was all Maroon and White as A&M took an early 3-0 lead, causing an early timeout from Feliciano. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, senior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky got her momentum going in the second set with five kills.
Combined with four kills from Cos-Okpalla and three from senior MB Morgan Perkins, the Aggies cruised to a 25-14 victory in Set 2.
In Set 3, the Wildcats again took an early lead before allowing the Aggies to run away with things. After taking a narrow 9-8 lead, A&M proceeded to go on an eight-point scoring run, securing a 17-8 lead before finally allowing New Hampshire back on the scoreboard.
Leading the way for A&M in the third set was senior OH Emily Hellmuth. The Dallas native totaled seven kills en route to the Aggies sweep with a 24-18 victory in Set 3. Just in case the Wildcats forgot her name, Cos-Okpolla reminded them one more time, ending the match with an ace that landed just outside the range of the New Hampshire player.
“I was really focused on just like, making it in because, you know, not just being reckless, just because, like, you know we’re up,” Cos-Okpalla said. “I was just like, you know what? Like, I’m just going to serve my serve. Whatever happens, happens.”
Senior setter Maddie Waak fed her teammates spectacular passes all night with a whopping 37 assists, allowing A&M’s hoard of lethal hitters to run rampant over New Hampshire with 51 combined kills.
“I literally tell everyone on my team, Maddie is like, legit,” Cos-Okpalla said. “I’m glad, like, She’s on our side of the net and not the other one. But yeah, she’s just so smart.”
The best offense is a great defense, as a marvelous defensive effort from A&M allowed it to lead throughout almost every set. Lednicky, Stowers and senior libero Ava Underwood combined for 36 of the Aggies’ 59 digs, refusing to let the ball hit the floor for New Hampshire.
“We talked a little bit about the way that we’re going for bullet balls, but we also talked about where we’re putting them,” Morrison said. “I think that’s the thing that we’re starting to improve a little bit on as we get going here. So there’s an effort piece to just getting balls up in the air, but I think the ability to run our offense off of them is improving as time goes on right now.”
After the dominant 3-0 win, A&M now boasts a 7-2 record. The Aggies return to Reed Arena on Saturday, Sept. 20, capping off the Texas A&M invitational against Loyola Marymount at 3 p.m.
