A&M volleyball returns to NCAA Tournament for first time since 2019

For the first time in four seasons, Texas A&M volleyball is headed to the NCAA Tournament.

During Sunday’s NCAA Selection Show, it was announced A&M head coach will travel to Austin to face No. 2-seeded Texas (22-4, 17-1) in the opening round of the tournament.

A&M’s tournament run is set to begin Thursday, Nov. 30, at 6 p.m. CT.

Predictably, the Aggies-Longhorns is a matchup that players, coaches and fans know all too well. Texas leads the all-time series, 23-63. The last match between the in-state rivals came in 2021.

The Maroon & White enter the 2023 NCAA Tournament with a 16-12 over record and 8-10 in Southeastern Conference play.

In Jamie Morrison’s debut season in Aggieland, A&M drastically improved on their 13-16 and 5-13 records from a year ago.

Early in the 2023 campaign, the Aggies were able to shock the volleyball world by downing then-No. 5 Florida in a five-set thriller. A&M was able to continue their momentum with impressive wins over Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU and South Carolina before falling to then-No. 17 Florida at Reed Arena.

Despite their early-season play, the Aggies hit a wall late in the season, dropping eight of their final 10 matches. The latest being on Saturday vs. Alabama, which won just one SEC contest.

Although the young team is new to the tournament, Morrison is a seasoned veteran.

Morrison has served coaching stints at Texas (2020-2021), UC Irvine (2012-13), Concordia (California) (2006-08), USC (2004-05) and UC Santa Barbara (1999-2003) and helped lead three of those teams to the national semifinals or finals.

A&M last made the NCAA Tournament in 2019. Prior to the recent stretch of misses, the Aggies had been tournament regulars.

In just his first year, Morrison has taken the first step toward re-emerging as such.