A heartbreaking end to a tremendous season.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, Texas A&M volleyball continued its trek toward a national championship in the NCAA Tournament, but on Friday night, that journey ended.
he No. 6-seeded Aggies fell to No. 2-seed Wisconsin in five sets, 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 15-13).
Playing in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019, A&M was familiar with the foe across the net. The Aggies and Badgers previously met in the regular season contest, with Wisconsin pulling off the sweep.
With a chance to redeem themselves and move on to the Elite Eight, A&M came to play.
The opening set began with a kill from none other than junior opposite Logan Lednicky, who had a phenomenal 27 kills in the team’s last game against Arizona State.
Lednicky contributed a match-high 23 vs. Wisconsin, but her heroics weren’t enough.
Still, she kickstarted a 7-4 advantage for the Aggies to begin the set, tacking on two more during that stretch.
However, that lead was short-lived. The Badgers went on a run to take an 11-9 lead. The two squads battled it out until it was tied 18-18. However, an attack error from junior outside hitter Emily Hellmuth allowed Wisconsin to take full advantage of the one-point lead.
The Badgers ended the set on a 7-3 run to win the first, 25-21.
Similarly to the first set, the Aggies started the second hot, grabbing a 7-2 lead. This time, the Aggies finished this one out. After aces from Hellmuth and Margot Manning, A&M pushed its lead to six at 11-5, forcing a Wisconsin timeout.
The Maroon & White put the pedal to the metal. Lednicky continued to add more to her kill total, as did junior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla. Soon after, the Badgers committed three straight errors as A&M went up 19-12.
While Wisconsin cut the lead to five, A&M scored three straight points and eventually took the set, 25-18.
Knotted at 7-7 early in the third, the Aggies and Badgers continued to battle.
Tied four separate times, A&M got contributions from all over the floor, but with the set deadlocked 17-117, a Hellmuth attack error and a kill from Wisconsin star Sarah Franklin gave the Badgers the lead.
Kelly Sheffield’s squad took the set on a fiery 6-0 run, 25-19.
Facing elimination in the fourth, A&M fought hard to keep their season alive. Lednicky powered the Aggies to a 7-4 lead, and Hellmuth logged a service ace to give her team some momentum.
Errors came on the opposite side of the net, and another kill for Hellmuth made the A&M lead 10-6.
Wisconsin fought back and tied the score 22-22, but the Aggies’ All-SEC First Team star wasn’t going down without a fight.
Lednicky went on a run with three straight kills to force a decisive set.
Early in the fifth frame, it was even 6-6 when a Badger 5-0 ultimately doomed the Aggies.
While Lednicky, Hellmuth and Waak combined for four kills to cut the Badger lead to one, Franklin’s 21st kill ended A&M’s run in the NCAA Tournament and 2024 season.
In Jamie Morrison’s second season in Aggieland, the Maroon & White finished with a 21-8 overall record.
