Morrison & Co. eyeing opportunity in first Tournament berth since 2019

The head coach of Texas A&M volleyball, Jamie Morrison joined TexAgs Radio on Tuesday to share the state of his squad as the Aggies prepare to take on No. 2-seeded Texas while making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in four years on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Austin.

Key notes from Jamie Morrison interview

• Texas is a team that I know. We're excited to represent Texas A&M University in the NCAA Tournament. We're grateful to continue practicing. I'm super excited to get this team back in the tournament where we belong. We get Texas, so there isn't a better matchup with more fireworks or pop to it. I'm looking forward to getting back to Austin to say hello to some people, but when it comes to volleyball, I'm not going to take any prisoners.
   
• There is some geography involved, and I'm not complaining about it. It should be an exciting match to watch on TV.
   
• Texas is a good team, but there is so much parity in volleyball now. Our sport is growing exponentially right now. The junior level is blowing up. With that, you're getting an abundance of talent and athletes that can play the game. If you train them the right way, you can beat anybody. Anybody can beat everybody, and we're looking forward to that opportunity.
   
• We have some players who have transferred from other schools that have been to the tournament, but this is mostly a new group. We were the last matchup that was shown in the bracket. To see the joy on their faces was really, really special.
   
• One of my goals for this program is to get it to where it has been. This is a program that has been to the NCAA Tournament consistently. Our goal is to make this a regular occurrence. Our expectation is to hear our name called on Selection Sunday and then to push it further and further. Right now, we have business to take care of against Texas.
   
• We play with a level of emotion and take it to our opponent. Blocking-wise, we've gotten to the basics of that. We'll have the No. 1 blocker in the country vs. the No. 2 blocker in the country. It'll be a push back and forth. We take big rips, and we don't back down. We have nothing to lose at this point, and we're going to play like that.
   
• Accolades are a testament to the work put in. We set a goal in January of getting this team back to the NCAA Tournament, and the work that goes into that is a lot.
   
• It's an all-Texas regional. I'll spend most of my time on Texas, but I watched some of SMU earlier because they've played a lot of SEC teams. Texas State is perennially a mid-major that is constantly in the tournament and constantly upsetting teams.
   
• Also, not sure if you guys heard this, but A&M hired a new football coach. I don't know the Xs and Os of football, but we hired a quality human being. It's really important that we hire people who are going to impact the next generation in a positive way. I think we hired a really good person in Mike Elko.