The energy was wild in Reed Arena for No. 13 Texas A&M volleyball’s Southeastern Conference opener against No. 21 Missouri. The Aggies took on the Tigers and landed a 3-1 win to start off a long conference stretch. 

Less than a minute into the first set, A&M hit the ground running and led with an attack error. Senior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla immediately set the team up for victory with two kills before Missouri could take a breather. The Tigers did not let the hot start slow their pace and landed some strong kills. 

Halfway through the first set, the Tigers crept up on the Aggies — but not before outside hitter sophomore Kyndal Stowers landed a sharp kill just shy of the outside line. The first timeout was called by Missouri as they huddled to repair what A&M broke.

Their preparation was matched by the Aggies’ eagerness to jump right back into the game. Three service errors against Missouri set  A&M five points ahead, and landed them a score of 18-13. 

The first set saw the Aggies land their first ace out of eight. The ball was a magnet to Stowers, who gave the Tigers all they could handle with a double-kill. Senior setter Maddie Waak and senior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky were a dream team for the Aggies and contributed three more points to the final score of Set 1, securing the first set victory, 25-20.

“I thought we constantly put pressure on them and made them feel uncomfortable, and aces will come from that.” coach Jamie Morrison said. “That’s not the goal, that’s a byproduct of a certain tough.” 

Set 2 got off immediately to a strong Aggie lead thanks to Waak, who set up two clean kills in a row for Stowers. The Tigers found it hard to escape the Aggies’ grip, but dug their heels in as their front line built a wall against the net. Missouri took command near the net, but it was no match for the senior MB Morgan Perkins’ powerful kills.

Halfway through the second set, the Tigers showed their claws. After two aces from the Aggies, they fought fire with fire forcing A&M into a timeout. The Maroon and White benefitted from the break as they regrouped and swung back with a kill by Lednicky. Though the Tigers held their own on defense, the ball seemed to favor the outside lines of the court and the set concluded at 25-17.

Tension was rising for both teams in the stands and on the court in the third set. The Aggies went neck-and-neck with the Tigers for victory, and found themselves tied a total of 14 times throughout the set. No team gave the other room for error, and the back-and-forth performance concluded with a smashing kill by senior MB Tyrah Ariali. Missouri took the set with an impressive 26-24 scoreline, both teams having delivered an outstanding performance.

“I think we turned it on halfway through that third set, and if we had started it that way, we wouldn’t have had to go to fourth,” Cos-Okpalla said. “ Since we turned it on there and started to battle towards the end, it kind of just bled into the fourth set. … We knew that we shouldn’t have lost the third, and so going into the fourth, it was like ‘Okay, like, we gotta finish this, like, we have to put our foot on it.’”

The Aggies started strong in Set 4 with an ace and a lead, 4-1. Instead of focusing on the previously dropped set, Lednicky and Cos-Okpalla led their team with communication and hard work. By the Tiger’s first timeout, the Aggies led the set, 6-1.

When victory was in view in the fourth set, the Aggies were nearly impossible to knock off-balance. As energy rose throughout the arena, they took the lead, 15-5. The Fightin’ Farmers’ fans rallied together to cheer on the Aggies’ intense defense against Missouri’s relentless attacks. 

“The 12th Man is always there to support us,” Cos-Okpalla said. “Having them like, behind us, rallying for us no matter what, whether we’re like up or down, I mean, we were at both points tonight … and just like hearing them cheering for us and going hard, it’s a good feeling.”

The victory for the Aggies fell to the hands of Stowers, who ended the set with a kill and gave A&M a resounding 25-8 win.

“I thought we stayed patient,” Morrison said. That’s a really good defensive team … But I thought we stayed patient and played the game that we had to play in order to beat them, and that’s something I am proud of.”

A&M will take the momentum from this 3-1 victory into their next match at Reed Arena on Friday, Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m. against Vanderbilt.