Maroon & White Scrimmage offers first look at Morrison's second year
It’s that time of year again in Aggieland.
The 2024-2025 athletic calendar is underway, and Texas A&M volleyball is wasting no time getting back into its groove.
Second-year head coach Jamie Morrison held a Maroon & White scrimmage at Reed Arena on Saturday in his Aggies’ first official action of 2024.
Despite mixing and matching players during six first-to-15 sets, the Maroon side took all six frames in the exhibition (15-9, 15-10, 15-12, 15-11, 15-12, 15-12).
“I think our girls put in a lot of hard work,” Morrison said after the match. “We got a lot of players that can play every single position, and I’m just really excited to see what it looks like against an opponent next week.”
The ramp-up will continue as the regular-season opener is just 13 days away.
That ramp-up must continue for the Aggies to build on Morrison’s debut campaign.
“I thought we were probably two or three wins better than our record last year,” Morrison said. “We learned from the way we need to act as a team, and we learned from the way we need to play volleyball.”
Last season, A&M was on a red-hot start to begin the season, as they went 8-2 in non-conference play and won six of their first eight conference matchups, including a win over then-No. 4 Florida in Gainesville.
However, they lost eight of their final 10 games.
Making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019, the Aggies fell in the first round against eventual national champion Texas.
Last year, the Aggies led the SEC in total blocks, and they allowed the fourth-lowest opponent hitting percentage at .200.
“I told the team that I’m excited to show them off to the world,” Morrison said. “For me, there is an excitement. I want to show them off to the world. There is a nervousness, like, ‘Alright, let’s see what this looks like against somebody else.’”
Junior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla led the SEC in blocks and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week twice.
Cos-Okpalla and junior Logan Lednicky, an All-SEC pick at opposite hitter in 2023, enter with preseason all-conference honors.
Along with those two, the Aggies are returning a total of nine players as five transfer portal additions and one true freshman round out the roster.
“I think we’re capable of doing great things,” Morrison said. “I think we’re capable of going back to the tournament. I think we’re capable of making a run, and that’s my goal: To push this team further and further than we did the previous year every single year that I’m here.”
Among the newcomers is Dallas native Emily Hellmuth, who was the 2022 WCC Freshman of the Year as an outside hitter at Pepperdine. Familiar faces like middle blocker Morgan Perkins and defensive specialist Ava Underwood are back.
The pieces necessary for reaching the program’s in-house goals are there.
“I’m extremely grateful for the people that are here that are showing interest in our program and are representing the spirit of the 12th Man,” Morrison said. “I’m really, really excited for the people that are new here to get to see what this looks like as this place starts to fill up more because I know it will.”
The 2024 season officially begins in Mobile, AL, on Aug. 30 against South Alabama, with SEC action slated to begin on Sept. 27 against Texas.
With the Longhorns coming to Aggieland that Friday, Morrison presented a challenge for the 12th Man ahead of that date with who he called “that other school in Texas.”
Fill the 12,989-seat Reed Arena.
