Morrison's Aggies advance after downing Colorado State in four sets

One down, five to go.

Texas A&M volleyball began its journey towards a national title on Friday night in Tempe, Arizona, as the Aggies took down the Colorado State Rams in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 3-1 (25-20, 16-25, 29-27, 25-23).

Entering this tilt, head coach Jamie Morrison was looking to land his first postseason victory against the Mountain West Conference champions.

That’s exactly what Morrison & Co. did, as the No. 6 seed Aggies eliminated the Rams with a hard-fought win. The Aggies are among the seven SEC teams to advance to the second round, where they will face either Arizona State or New Hampshire on Saturday, Dec. 7.

It was quite the first set in the match, as the Aggies opened it up to a quick 5-1 lead. Logan Lednicky got off to a hot start with two early kills. Not long after that, the lead was 10-3 for A&M after a CSU attack error.

However, the Rams did not go out quietly.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Texas A&M’s win marked the Aggies’ first tournament victory under Jamie Morrison in his second tournament appearance. 

The Aggies’ advantage was quickly cut to three at 11-8 as the Maroon & White could get more of a grip on the frame with a 15-9 lead as the Rams committed consecutive attack errors.

Following the media timeout, CSU went on a 7-1 run to knot the opener at 16-16.

After a 17-17 tie, A&M answered with its own run, scoring six straight points. The Ags scored two of those points via service aces. Graduate setter Emery Herman logged a kill for the Rams to make it 23-19.

Taylor Humphrey then responded with a kill to put the Aggies at set point, and yet another CSU error gave A&M a 25-20 win.

The second stanza was not as kind to A&M. The two squads went back and forth, even at 7-7. There were a total of nine ties until redshirt senior Malaya Jones gave the Rams a 14-13 edge.

CSU never let go of the lead, and Morrison had to call a timeout with A&M trialing 18-14. Attack errors from Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and Emily Hellmuth, as well as another kill from Jones, gave the Rams a 21-15 upper hand. A 4-1 run closed out the second as CSU tied the match.

A shootout ensued in the third period, and it began evenly, just like the second. Tied again at 7-7, the Rams scored four straight to make it 11-7, with Humphrey committing an attack error. CSU held a steadfast lead until A&M tied it 17-17, as Lednicky tallied back-to-back kills to give the Aggies a much-needed boost.

Kills from Jones and graduate middle blocker Naeemah Weathers had the Rams up 20-17, but the Aggies fought back. It was even again at 23-23 when outside hitter Kennedy Stanford put CSU up one and a point away from a commanding 2-1 lead.

However, a crucial Cos-Okpalla kill prevented that and knotted it up again at 24-24. 

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Logan Lednicky helped power the Aggies to victory with a team-high 23 kills on the night.

As the crucial third set continued, the two teams exchanged points until an attack error from Jones gave A&M a 28-27 advantage. Junior middle blocker Morgan Perkins put the finishing touch on the stanza as the Aggies went up 2-1 in the match with a 29-27 set victory.

The Aggies were up to begin the fourth, and they eventually had a 14-9 lead. However, the Rams got right back at it and went on a 6-1 tear to put the score at 15-15. Kills from Humphrey and Hellmuth had A&M leading 17-15, but CSU continued to battle.

Deadlocked at 20-20, Lednicky and Jones exchanged kills, but Jones then had a costly attack error that made it 22-21 in favor of the Aggies. Soon after, Humphrey had an error that made it 23-23. Two straight kills via Perkins and Hellmuth put the finishing touches on a 25-23 win and A&M’s first postseason victory since 2019.

A quick turnaround and a second-round match awaits as Morrison took the first step towards the ultimate goal.