Ags to play three matches in as many days in Texas A&M Invitational
A busy weekend awaits Aggie volleyball.
The Texas A&M Invitational begins on Friday at Reed Arena, and head coach Jamie Morrison and his Aggies will host Temple in the opener. Later in the weekend, the A&M will play New Hampshire on Saturday, and they’ll wrap up the tournament against Louisiana on Sunday.
Friday’s match with the Owls is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
After knocking off the Texas State Bobcats 3-0 in their most recent tilt, the Aggies have now swept their opponent in three of the first four games of the year.
Further, A&M had won 12 of 13 sets played.
Beyond that, A&M dominated every facet of the Texas State match, as they ended the game with more points, kills, aces, and blocks than the Bobcats.
“I’m just really proud of the way we’re playing volleyball, and it’s consistent from beginning to end,” Morrison said on Monday. “There’s a lot of inconsistencies around the country right now with everybody beating everybody, and we’re playing really, really good volleyball, regardless of who’s on the other side of the net.”
Taking a look at the competition that’s rolling into College Station this weekend for the invitational, Temple currently sits at 3-4, and the Owls are on a four-game losing streak heading into Friday’s game.
The Owls have seen success at home, as those three wins all came in Philadelphia. However, they’ve struggled mightily on the road, and their last three losses all came in the South Carolina Invitational last weekend.
New Hampshire has compiled a record of 3-3, with two of their losses coming in five sets. This will be the third invitational that the Wildcats will participate in to begin the year, with the first two being hosted by LSU and Harvard.
Like Temple, Louisiana is under .500, with their most recent match being a loss at the hands of Northwestern State.
The Ragin’ Cajuns have yet to lose a true road game this season, however.
“Three more chances to come see this amazing team play volleyball,” Morrison said.
Even though three games in three days is a tall task, Morrison expects support from the 12th Man to be instrumental in his team’s success, as always.
Just last Friday, 3,356 fans – the fourth-largest in A&M volleyball history – came to Reed to see the Ags beat Texas State.
“I had heard about the 12th Man, and it was a piece of the reason of why I came to this school,” Morrison said. “But until you experience a crowd that has that much electricity flowing through it, it’s something that you can’t really put words around.”
It’s stretches like this that really test a team’s mental and physical prowess.
We’ll see how Morrison and the Aggies respond, as they try to keep their undefeated streak to begin the year going.