Match #9: No. 6 Wisconsin 3, No. 19 Texas A&M 2
S1: A&M, 25-18; S2: WISC, 25-23; S3: A&M, 25-23; S4: WISC, 25-22; S5: WISC, 15-11
Records: Texas A&M (4-5, 0-0), Wisconsin (4-3, 0-0)
Box Score
No. 19 Texas A&M fell to No. 6 Wisconsin in a five-set thriller at Reed Arena on Friday night despite being surrounded by supportive fans in College Station.
Even through a three-hour-long match, the 12th Man was present until the very end, with 9,211 fans in attendance, filling almost every seat in the first deck and spilling into the second.
“The 12th Man was there and definitely played their part,” said senior outside hitter Kyndal Stowers. “They were literally being the 12th Man, giving shoes to Natalie (Ring) when hers broke.”
As the second top-10 opponent this week for the Aggies, Wisconsin holds a highly respected reputation. With an impressive NCAA Tournament history, the Badgers have finished in the Elite Eight twice, the Final Four twice and won a national championship trophy all in the last five years alone.
Wisconsin has one asset unlike the rest, as their 2026-27 roster is accompanied by 16-year-old freshman outside hitter Decelise Champion. Her 6-foot-6 stature and fearless swing make her different from any of her peers, as she’s already playing with only the best of the best.
The Aggies have improved in running a balanced offense this week, allowing them to upset No. 4 Stanford before taking Wisconsin to the wire.
“Their coach walked past me and said, ‘I don’t think there’s a team in the country that’s gotten better than yours in the short time you’ve had them this season,’” said coach Jamie Morrison. “I don’t think there’s any better compliment you can get from another coach.”
Morrison described his team as trending in the right direction. Despite their record, the young Aggies should be proud of the amount of change made in the last week.
When every hitter is a threat, A&M’s movements are unpredictable. Both Aggie middle blockers, Kaia Castle and Eliza Sharp, and both A&M outside hitters, Stowers and Ring, recorded double-digit kills tonight.
Sophomore setter Kirra Musgrove showed her brilliant court awareness, efficiently distributing her offense at the best moments and accumulating 51 assists.
The Badger defense could not keep up with slide attacks run by Castle, who led A&M’s offense at .576 and 19 kills. Castle’s excellent performance tonight is now her career high in hitting percentage and in kills.
“I was seeing what was open, just trying to mix up my shots,” said Castle. “Kirra was doing a great job at getting me those balls and passers pushing the pass, so we were able to run things.”
A&M began the first set firing on all cylinders with a seven-point lead over the Badgers and finished with the same momentum and same score difference.
Starting off a set with a significant deficit was too discouraging for Wisconsin to come back from. Efforts made by senior outside hitter Eva Travis, scoring a team high of only four kills in the first set, were not nearly enough to hang with the Aggies.
However, Wisconsin raised the madness in Reed throughout the second set. Every point was a battle, and the Aggies dropped the set 23-25. Both teams attacked, served and defended the back court similarly, but the Badgers have one of the biggest, strongest blocks A&M has faced so far.
“It ended up being a little bit of a block touch fest,” said Morrison. “I think it’s just the fact that they’re big and able to get some touches that other teams can’t.”
The Aggies bounced back in the third set, outplaying Wisconsin in every aspect of the game.
Freshman libero Gabi Rodriguez never let the Badgers have an easy point in the third. She led the A&M defense with 20 digs and made the offense possible. All sorts of plays with the middle blockers aren’t possible without a perfect center-court pass, something Rodriguez could do no matter who was in front of her.
The 12th Man was biting their nails as Wisconsin pushed this Big Ten-SEC matchup to a fifth set with help from their consistent block on the Aggies. The Maroon & White’s swings were extremely limited on the net against the wall in front of them.
Wisconsin sophomore libero Kristen Simon had a match that deserves credit. When the block was covering the Aggies' swings, she was prepared to prevent any off-speed swings from scoring. Her amazing reads complemented their block perfectly as A&M failed to adapt.
During the final set, A&M struggled with the fundamental aspects of their game: serve receive, tip coverage and swinging around the block.
“We should be able to side out at a higher percentage at the end of the day to come and stop those runs,” said Stowers. “Being able to put the ball away instead of allowing them to close it out.”
Morrison described the fourth and fifth sets from A&M’s perspective as passive, allowing Wisconsin to execute according to their plan.
A&M is still focused on executing and closing out sets in the red zone, as the Ags are prepared to get back to work on Tuesday against Stephen F. Austin.
