Ags stave off hangover after long layover in four-set win over Alabama
The Aggies have rolled the Tide.
Texas A&M returned to Reed Arena on Friday night with a crowd of 3,390 on hand as the Ags went to work against Alabama.
Seeking their third straight win, A&M defeated the Tide in four sets (22-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-12) and is now 15-4 on the season with an SEC record of 6-3.
After one of the biggest wins in program history coming in their most recent game over the Texas Longhorns, head coach Jamie Morrison said it was important that the Aggies stayed locked in on their next challenge.
“My number one concern when we beat Texas was this match,” Morrison said. “There was this ability to go execute the way that we did against Texas, and we needed to do that at times tonight. And we got there.”
Early, those concerns were valid as the Tide took the opening set.
Alabama was persistent in the first frame, as they opened their advantage back to 19-14. Sophomore outside hitter Kyla Dunaway did damage for the Crimson Tide in this first set, where she had five kills.
However, A&M attempted to rally and trailed by just one at 23-22, but the Ags committed a service error that rewarded the Crimson Tide with another point. Another kill from Dunaway put the set away for Alabama, as they took a 1-0 lead.
Set two was a hard-fought battle, and it began tied at 5-5. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla got it going with another two kills for A&M, but sophomore middle blocker Jordyn Towns did the same for Alabama, as she had two kills of her own as well.
There were a total of eight ties before the Aggies finally found some momentum and grabbed a 13-10 lead, as kills by Logan Lednicky and Cos-Okpalla gave A&M a firm advantage.
The Maroon & White kept it going, as they led 21-17, looking to push the Crimson Tide to the brink in the period as Alabama attack errors and another Cos-Okpalla kill put A&M up 24-18 and in place for set point, and a service error from the Crimson Tide was the point the Aggies needed to win the frame, 25-19.
Unlike the previous two sets, it was Alabama struck first in the third. This eventually became a 6-1 lead as Dunaway added two more kills to her total.
Alabama continued to dominate and took a commanding 15-8 lead midway through the stanza.
After that, however, the Aggies went on a quick 4-0 run to make it 15-12, where redshirt sophomore opposite Ital Lopuyo scored on back-to-back kills.
But the Crimson Tide punched back and got their lead back up to 19-14, and after some back-and-forth action, Alabama turned that lead into 22-17.
With their backs against the wall, the Aggies fought back profusely, scoring four points to trim the deficit to just one. A service error from Morgan Perkins put Alabama at set point, but A&M refused to go down easy.
After an attack error from Alabama’s side and a kill from Cos-Okpalla, it was all knotted up at 24-24.
After a 25-25 deadlock, an Alabama service error and an attack error by junior outside hitter Paris Thompson gave A&M a gritty 27-25 win.
“I think finding people to lean on is really, really big,” junior defensive specialist Ava Underwood said. “I think our team is really close, so that makes that really easy to do.”
Up 2-1 in the match, the Maroon & White knew victory was close, so they began the fourth set with a quick 9-3 lead. The team scored seven of the set’s first eight points, and yet another kill from Lednicky forced Alabama head coach Rashinda Reed to call an early timeout.
The Aggies were simply red hot in this fourth. The Crimson Tide called yet another timeout after three straight attack errors, and a kill from Perkins had the lead up to 14-4.
Despite that, the Aggies just continued to crush it in the period, laying claim to a 22-11 lead. Fittingly, Lednicky recorded the final two kills and the match point for A&M, as they won the set 25-12 and the game 3-1.
“We knew coming in that Alabama is a different team than Alabama from last year,” Cos-Okpalla said. “So we knew there would be moments where you have to fight, and I think we did. And we leaned on each other and got through.”
The offense was not in short supply for the Aggies, as the team had three players with double-digit kills and two with at least 14.5 points. They also scored at least 22 points in all four sets of the game.
A&M will look to extend its winning streak to four when they host Mississippi State on Sunday, Nov. 3. First serve is set for 2 p.m. CT.