Opponent: #7 Louisville
Date: August 21
Time: 5:00pm
Location: Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming: ESPN2
Stats:
AVCA Homepage: https://www.avca.org/event/2026-avca-first-serve/
Game Preview
Howdy my fellow NCAA National Championship Aggie Volleyball fans and welcome to the 2026 season. That's right, 8 months later, we're still atop the volleyball world. That beautiful trophy is currently sitting in Reed Arena, that banner is soon to be unveiled, and I won't stop talking about it! For the die hard fans and those who caught the last few games of that magical run, I welcome you back for the 2026 edition of Aggie Volleyball. Put on that national championship shirt, raise a glass, and buckle up because our road to defending our title begins right now.
They didn't believe we'd get past Louisville down 2 sets, not one soul believed we could take down an undefeated Nebraska in their own gym, nobody believed we could take down National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock and one seeded Pitt, nobody believed we could take down a one seeded Kentucky who took it to us at home 2 months prior… nobody did, nobody but the people inside our locker room. We know the storylines headed into this season. "It was a fluke run," "It was a Cinderella run," "No way it happens again," "They lost everybody," "They return no one," a little bit louder please…. all this is music to my ears, I love it. Let them doubt us again. I dare them. As my pal Jamie Morrison would say, WHY NOT US!?
Yes, we lost 9 seniors, including 3 All Americans and 6 starters. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, Logan Lednicky, Maddie Waak, Morgan Perkins, Ava Underwood, Emily Hellmuth, Tatum Thomas, Taylor Humphrey, and Lexi Guinn. To these ladies, I salute you and appreciate you. You took this team to the mountain top and laid a foundation for this program and all who follow. You all are Aggie legends, now and always.
However, this isn't a rebuilding year, we reloaded. We brought back our entire coaching and support staff. We dominated the portal, we brought in amazing freshman, and we return some huge pieces. Morrison and co brought in 4 big time transfers through the portal and 4 talented freshman signees. We added an AVCA 3rd Team All American in dynamic outside hitter Natalie Ring who will step in and pair up with Kyndal Stowers to form one of the strongest outside duos in the country. We added two stellar middle blockers: one being the Mountain West Freshman of the Year in Eliza Sharp, and another a former 5 star recruit in Kaia Castle. They look to carry Morrison's tradition of having dominant middle blockers who can also smash a ball. We also added a strong and fast tempo setter in Lily Nicholson, a former club teammate of Stowers. Morrison added some talented high schoolers, leading the group is Gabi Rodriguez, in my opinion the best Libero/defensive specialist in the 2026 class. He also added another back row player in Jenna Thedford, a powerful heavy hitting opposite in Brooke Lacewell, and a dominant middle blocker in Lolufe Adedeji.
8 newcomers join 8 returning players to form this 2026 team. Leading the returners is Kyndal Stowers who was a 2nd Team All American, the NCAA Tourney MVP, 1st Team All SEC, and an ESPY nominee. That's a solid piece to build around. We also return Addi Applegate who started last season as a defensive specialist and showed her consistent defensive strength in the back row all season. Also returning are Megan Fitch and Taryn Morris who saw action in the NCAA Tournament in sub packages and both stepped up big time in every match. Also returning is setter/serving specialist extraordinaire Margot Manning who was hurt all last season and 6'2 setter Kirra Musgrove who came in as a sub in some matches last season as well. The Aggies also return powerful hitter Amare Hernadez and the much improved Serbian middle blocker Djurdja Stanojevic.
Louisville was our sweet 16 opponent. They took the first two sets from us and were close to ending our season before any of us could even dream of what we were about to accomplish. They bring back every starter but one, arguably their best player in Cara Cresse. They return their amazing setter Nayelis Cabello, pins Chloe Chicoine, Kalyssa Blackshear, and Peyton Peterson, starting middle Hannah Sherman, and littles Kamden Schrand and Hannah Kenny. In coach Dan Meske's second season, they'll be looking to avenge their sweet sixteen loss. They added a talented middle in Brooke Bultema, who started in 2024 for Kentucky but played much less in 2025.
Louisville plays fast, Chicoine is undersized, but Cabello can run a fast offense and Chicoine can be unstoppable if our block isn't ready. Cabello has a connection with all her hitters. Sherman, Bultema, and the size Peterson and Blackshear bring will form one of the best blocking teams in the country. Their littles serve really tough as well. This will be a huge challenge for our team. You have one team with almost all their production returning versus a team with very little, practically one attacking player's production. It will be a unique battle, but I think we will be up for the test.
It will be interesting how we come out attacking. Last year we ran an up tempo offense led by Maddie Waak as the facilitator. She ran a lot of quick sets to the pins or straight to Cos-Okpalla and Perkins in front of her. We'll have a new setter and many new attackers. Rumblings from camp suggest we'll be setting back row attacks and slides for the middles, something we hardly did with Waak. It will also be interesting to see how our defense fares. When you had Cos-Okpalla in the middle, teams feared hitting. Our middles in Castle and Sharp stand taller than ICO and Perkins, but can they quickly adapt to our style and dominate. I believe our back row play should be much better. Applegate will be a year improved and Rodriguez is a monster back there. Stowers is an excellent passer, as is Natalie Ring.
Although the lineup we start with may not be the group we're rolling with coke December, it will still be interesting to see how they start. We'll have different options at setter that can change the makeup of our team. Nicholson has experience and Musgrove is the highly touted underclassmen. But Musgrove is 4 inches taller and can provide a huge block. Either will have two huge weapons on the left side in Kyndal Stowers and Natalie Ring, both who are capable of playing 6 rotations and hitting from anywhere on the court. In the middle, Kaia Castle has really impressed this spring and summer and played at a high level in the exhibitions. Our second middle has been a battle, Eliza Sharp is the most experienced and accomplished, but has been battling a hand injury, we'll see if she's ready to go Friday. Djurdja Stanojevic who was a freshman last season that barely saw the court has improved greatly. She got to learn from some all Americans. The last 4 years we could alleviate pressure from our outsides by having Logan Lednicky on the right side. Taryn Morris and Brooke Lacewell both provide strong options, that's been a tight battle as well. It seems Gabi Rodriguez may have won the libero jersey, although we could see Applegate in it as well. Both will improve our serve receive and back row defense. This team is young, a lot less inexperienced, but they are talented, extremely talented. The cohesion and chemistry will come. Success will follow.
The Aggies will be featured this season on many national broadcasts. A target will be on our back every time we step on the court. There is a new standard for Texas A&M Volleyball. The fan darlings we once were last December will slowly begin to fade. We were the underdogs, the team with lots of seniors changing up the status quo. People were happy to see something different. However, this season a lot of that will change. When we start becoming a repeated problem for everyone, that target will get bigger and the opposition will grow. We may not be a volleyball blue blood, they may not think we belong with the Nebraska's the Wisconsin's, the Penn State's, the tu's, the Stanford's and so on. But Texas A&M Volleyball is here and we are here to stay. The volleyball world already wrote us off for 2026. But the last person I'm going to ever doubt is Jamie Morrison. Nobody picked us last year and nobody will pick us this year. I don't care.
Let them doubt us. We're the reigning national champions for a reason. That's right, you reading this, you, your school, your alma mater, the school colors you wear so proudly, your favorite college won the 2025 NCAA Volleyball National Championship in dominating and historic fashion. We were the last team standing, the confetti fell on us, we hoisted that trophy in front of the entire volleyball world. We rocked the volleyball world. Us, Texas A&M University. TEXAS FREAKING A&M! We're the national champions. While the season ahead of us is full of unknowns and uncertainty, one thing I do know is that we are the national champions until someone eliminates us in December. Our 2026 team may have flipped the page, but you and I, go ahead and flaunt it, it's ours. We're the reigning national champions and our title defense begins now… BTHO louisville!!!
Date: August 21
Time: 5:00pm
Location: Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming: ESPN2
Stats:
AVCA Homepage: https://www.avca.org/event/2026-avca-first-serve/
Game Preview
Howdy my fellow NCAA National Championship Aggie Volleyball fans and welcome to the 2026 season. That's right, 8 months later, we're still atop the volleyball world. That beautiful trophy is currently sitting in Reed Arena, that banner is soon to be unveiled, and I won't stop talking about it! For the die hard fans and those who caught the last few games of that magical run, I welcome you back for the 2026 edition of Aggie Volleyball. Put on that national championship shirt, raise a glass, and buckle up because our road to defending our title begins right now.
They didn't believe we'd get past Louisville down 2 sets, not one soul believed we could take down an undefeated Nebraska in their own gym, nobody believed we could take down National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock and one seeded Pitt, nobody believed we could take down a one seeded Kentucky who took it to us at home 2 months prior… nobody did, nobody but the people inside our locker room. We know the storylines headed into this season. "It was a fluke run," "It was a Cinderella run," "No way it happens again," "They lost everybody," "They return no one," a little bit louder please…. all this is music to my ears, I love it. Let them doubt us again. I dare them. As my pal Jamie Morrison would say, WHY NOT US!?
Yes, we lost 9 seniors, including 3 All Americans and 6 starters. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, Logan Lednicky, Maddie Waak, Morgan Perkins, Ava Underwood, Emily Hellmuth, Tatum Thomas, Taylor Humphrey, and Lexi Guinn. To these ladies, I salute you and appreciate you. You took this team to the mountain top and laid a foundation for this program and all who follow. You all are Aggie legends, now and always.
However, this isn't a rebuilding year, we reloaded. We brought back our entire coaching and support staff. We dominated the portal, we brought in amazing freshman, and we return some huge pieces. Morrison and co brought in 4 big time transfers through the portal and 4 talented freshman signees. We added an AVCA 3rd Team All American in dynamic outside hitter Natalie Ring who will step in and pair up with Kyndal Stowers to form one of the strongest outside duos in the country. We added two stellar middle blockers: one being the Mountain West Freshman of the Year in Eliza Sharp, and another a former 5 star recruit in Kaia Castle. They look to carry Morrison's tradition of having dominant middle blockers who can also smash a ball. We also added a strong and fast tempo setter in Lily Nicholson, a former club teammate of Stowers. Morrison added some talented high schoolers, leading the group is Gabi Rodriguez, in my opinion the best Libero/defensive specialist in the 2026 class. He also added another back row player in Jenna Thedford, a powerful heavy hitting opposite in Brooke Lacewell, and a dominant middle blocker in Lolufe Adedeji.
8 newcomers join 8 returning players to form this 2026 team. Leading the returners is Kyndal Stowers who was a 2nd Team All American, the NCAA Tourney MVP, 1st Team All SEC, and an ESPY nominee. That's a solid piece to build around. We also return Addi Applegate who started last season as a defensive specialist and showed her consistent defensive strength in the back row all season. Also returning are Megan Fitch and Taryn Morris who saw action in the NCAA Tournament in sub packages and both stepped up big time in every match. Also returning is setter/serving specialist extraordinaire Margot Manning who was hurt all last season and 6'2 setter Kirra Musgrove who came in as a sub in some matches last season as well. The Aggies also return powerful hitter Amare Hernadez and the much improved Serbian middle blocker Djurdja Stanojevic.
Louisville was our sweet 16 opponent. They took the first two sets from us and were close to ending our season before any of us could even dream of what we were about to accomplish. They bring back every starter but one, arguably their best player in Cara Cresse. They return their amazing setter Nayelis Cabello, pins Chloe Chicoine, Kalyssa Blackshear, and Peyton Peterson, starting middle Hannah Sherman, and littles Kamden Schrand and Hannah Kenny. In coach Dan Meske's second season, they'll be looking to avenge their sweet sixteen loss. They added a talented middle in Brooke Bultema, who started in 2024 for Kentucky but played much less in 2025.
Louisville plays fast, Chicoine is undersized, but Cabello can run a fast offense and Chicoine can be unstoppable if our block isn't ready. Cabello has a connection with all her hitters. Sherman, Bultema, and the size Peterson and Blackshear bring will form one of the best blocking teams in the country. Their littles serve really tough as well. This will be a huge challenge for our team. You have one team with almost all their production returning versus a team with very little, practically one attacking player's production. It will be a unique battle, but I think we will be up for the test.
It will be interesting how we come out attacking. Last year we ran an up tempo offense led by Maddie Waak as the facilitator. She ran a lot of quick sets to the pins or straight to Cos-Okpalla and Perkins in front of her. We'll have a new setter and many new attackers. Rumblings from camp suggest we'll be setting back row attacks and slides for the middles, something we hardly did with Waak. It will also be interesting to see how our defense fares. When you had Cos-Okpalla in the middle, teams feared hitting. Our middles in Castle and Sharp stand taller than ICO and Perkins, but can they quickly adapt to our style and dominate. I believe our back row play should be much better. Applegate will be a year improved and Rodriguez is a monster back there. Stowers is an excellent passer, as is Natalie Ring.
Although the lineup we start with may not be the group we're rolling with coke December, it will still be interesting to see how they start. We'll have different options at setter that can change the makeup of our team. Nicholson has experience and Musgrove is the highly touted underclassmen. But Musgrove is 4 inches taller and can provide a huge block. Either will have two huge weapons on the left side in Kyndal Stowers and Natalie Ring, both who are capable of playing 6 rotations and hitting from anywhere on the court. In the middle, Kaia Castle has really impressed this spring and summer and played at a high level in the exhibitions. Our second middle has been a battle, Eliza Sharp is the most experienced and accomplished, but has been battling a hand injury, we'll see if she's ready to go Friday. Djurdja Stanojevic who was a freshman last season that barely saw the court has improved greatly. She got to learn from some all Americans. The last 4 years we could alleviate pressure from our outsides by having Logan Lednicky on the right side. Taryn Morris and Brooke Lacewell both provide strong options, that's been a tight battle as well. It seems Gabi Rodriguez may have won the libero jersey, although we could see Applegate in it as well. Both will improve our serve receive and back row defense. This team is young, a lot less inexperienced, but they are talented, extremely talented. The cohesion and chemistry will come. Success will follow.
The Aggies will be featured this season on many national broadcasts. A target will be on our back every time we step on the court. There is a new standard for Texas A&M Volleyball. The fan darlings we once were last December will slowly begin to fade. We were the underdogs, the team with lots of seniors changing up the status quo. People were happy to see something different. However, this season a lot of that will change. When we start becoming a repeated problem for everyone, that target will get bigger and the opposition will grow. We may not be a volleyball blue blood, they may not think we belong with the Nebraska's the Wisconsin's, the Penn State's, the tu's, the Stanford's and so on. But Texas A&M Volleyball is here and we are here to stay. The volleyball world already wrote us off for 2026. But the last person I'm going to ever doubt is Jamie Morrison. Nobody picked us last year and nobody will pick us this year. I don't care.
Let them doubt us. We're the reigning national champions for a reason. That's right, you reading this, you, your school, your alma mater, the school colors you wear so proudly, your favorite college won the 2025 NCAA Volleyball National Championship in dominating and historic fashion. We were the last team standing, the confetti fell on us, we hoisted that trophy in front of the entire volleyball world. We rocked the volleyball world. Us, Texas A&M University. TEXAS FREAKING A&M! We're the national champions. While the season ahead of us is full of unknowns and uncertainty, one thing I do know is that we are the national champions until someone eliminates us in December. Our 2026 team may have flipped the page, but you and I, go ahead and flaunt it, it's ours. We're the reigning national champions and our title defense begins now… BTHO louisville!!!
