Opponent: Rice (6-5)
Aggie Record: (6-5)
Aggie Rank: 16
Date: September 22
Time: 6:00
Location: The Beautiful Reed Arena - College Station, Texas
Streaming: SEC +
Tickets: https://12thmanfoundation.evenue.net/event/VB26/VB06
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/mobile/?id=673924
Match Preview
Back to our winning ways. The Aggie Volleyball team is doing what it's used to doing, and that's winning. This 2026 season didn't get off to the best start. So many newcomers, a key injury, one of the toughest schedules in the country, there were going to be some bumps. With one last non conference match Tuesday evening against Rice, the Aggies are sitting at 6-5, ranked 16th and inching towards conference play.
The biggest news around the team right now is the health status of middle blocker Eliza Sharp. The transfer has been one of the most dominant middles in the country offensively and a key piece to this team. She tweaked her ankle and left the Creighton match on crutches. Not having her in the lineup will be a challenge.
Conference play begins on Sunday. I'd say our first 5 matches are all against non tourney teams. However we'll see the severity of her injury. At that position we have Kaia Castle, sophomore Djurdja Stanojevic and freshman Lolufe Adedeji. We have also seen the return of Margot Manning and she's looked strong out there with her tough serving. Brooke Lacewell wasn't dressed out last match and Djurdja Stanojevic wasn't with the team.
Sunday, the Aggies took down Creighton 3-1 at their place. The Aggies showed dominance in set 1, as well as showed the ability to come back after a deficit to win a set. In Eliza's absence, we saw freshman Lolufe Adedeji step in. Although only stepping in for one block, she proved to have a monstrous arm and put away 6 kills in 2 sets. We're going to need her and Kaia to step up now. Taryn Morris had a relatively quiet night against Creighton's strong block. Kyndal Stowers showed out with 21 kills and 3 aces, Natalie Ring had an excellent 4th set and finished with 12 kills of her own. We had some service errors, but our tough serving kept Creighton's sets off the net. I hope we some more tough serving against Rice.
With SEC play approaching, we can't look ahead of Rice. They are a strong tournament team led by Aggie great Genny (Wood) Volpe who's in her 23rd year leading Rice Volleyball. She's built Rice into a perennial conference contender. This year they are expected to get back into the tourney. Although they have battled some injuries, they're still a solid squad. They are led at the pin position by Sydnee Peterson, sister of future Aggie Sophee Peterson. She is averaging 3.56 kills a set. Rice has been rotating between offensive schemes. They have an excellent setter in Kaia Mateo, although undersized, sometimes they'll run a 6-2 offense with Savannah Skopal in the front. However, the last two matches they have ran a 51 with freshman Zora Bello, then Kaia Mateo the next match. I suspect they will run a 6-2 using Skopal's size. They have an excellent middle in Arissa Smith and an excellent right side in Stephanie Gutierrez as well.
One more match in non conference play. Let's extend this winning streak to 3 and get rolling into conference play. Our passing has been improving, our serving has been improving, our setting has been improving. As the season goes on and with more times between matches, what's most important is that we keep improving and improving before December comes. One match at a time. We have the pieces, we have the environment, we have the standard, and we have a banner in the rafters for a reason. Let's keep winning Ags, let's Pack Reed, and let's BTHO arroz!!!
Aggie Record: (6-5)
Aggie Rank: 16
Date: September 22
Time: 6:00
Location: The Beautiful Reed Arena - College Station, Texas
Streaming: SEC +
Tickets: https://12thmanfoundation.evenue.net/event/VB26/VB06
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/mobile/?id=673924
Match Preview
Back to our winning ways. The Aggie Volleyball team is doing what it's used to doing, and that's winning. This 2026 season didn't get off to the best start. So many newcomers, a key injury, one of the toughest schedules in the country, there were going to be some bumps. With one last non conference match Tuesday evening against Rice, the Aggies are sitting at 6-5, ranked 16th and inching towards conference play.
The biggest news around the team right now is the health status of middle blocker Eliza Sharp. The transfer has been one of the most dominant middles in the country offensively and a key piece to this team. She tweaked her ankle and left the Creighton match on crutches. Not having her in the lineup will be a challenge.
Conference play begins on Sunday. I'd say our first 5 matches are all against non tourney teams. However we'll see the severity of her injury. At that position we have Kaia Castle, sophomore Djurdja Stanojevic and freshman Lolufe Adedeji. We have also seen the return of Margot Manning and she's looked strong out there with her tough serving. Brooke Lacewell wasn't dressed out last match and Djurdja Stanojevic wasn't with the team.
Sunday, the Aggies took down Creighton 3-1 at their place. The Aggies showed dominance in set 1, as well as showed the ability to come back after a deficit to win a set. In Eliza's absence, we saw freshman Lolufe Adedeji step in. Although only stepping in for one block, she proved to have a monstrous arm and put away 6 kills in 2 sets. We're going to need her and Kaia to step up now. Taryn Morris had a relatively quiet night against Creighton's strong block. Kyndal Stowers showed out with 21 kills and 3 aces, Natalie Ring had an excellent 4th set and finished with 12 kills of her own. We had some service errors, but our tough serving kept Creighton's sets off the net. I hope we some more tough serving against Rice.
With SEC play approaching, we can't look ahead of Rice. They are a strong tournament team led by Aggie great Genny (Wood) Volpe who's in her 23rd year leading Rice Volleyball. She's built Rice into a perennial conference contender. This year they are expected to get back into the tourney. Although they have battled some injuries, they're still a solid squad. They are led at the pin position by Sydnee Peterson, sister of future Aggie Sophee Peterson. She is averaging 3.56 kills a set. Rice has been rotating between offensive schemes. They have an excellent setter in Kaia Mateo, although undersized, sometimes they'll run a 6-2 offense with Savannah Skopal in the front. However, the last two matches they have ran a 51 with freshman Zora Bello, then Kaia Mateo the next match. I suspect they will run a 6-2 using Skopal's size. They have an excellent middle in Arissa Smith and an excellent right side in Stephanie Gutierrez as well.
One more match in non conference play. Let's extend this winning streak to 3 and get rolling into conference play. Our passing has been improving, our serving has been improving, our setting has been improving. As the season goes on and with more times between matches, what's most important is that we keep improving and improving before December comes. One match at a time. We have the pieces, we have the environment, we have the standard, and we have a banner in the rafters for a reason. Let's keep winning Ags, let's Pack Reed, and let's BTHO arroz!!!
