By Michael Adams
Austin Sports Journal
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M (25-4) rallied past TCU (21-11) in four sets Friday night at Reed Arena, claiming a 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 29-27 victory in front of an announced crowd of 5,354.
After dropping the opening set, the Aggies responded with steady offense and late-set poise, then delivered their most dramatic performance in the fourth. Texas A&M fought off six set points in the final frame before closing out the match on its second match point to secure the win.
Logan Lednicky led Texas A&M with 21 kills on .314 hitting, while Kyndal Stowers added 19 kills and 13 digs. Emily Hellmuth finished with 12 kills, and Ifenna Cos-Okpalla chipped in seven.
“A balanced offense does wonders for a team,” Lednicky said. “TCU can get a little jumpy sometimes and give us some big splits, and open up some space for kills. A word I’d use to describe this team is gritty. We know how to get down and dirty and grind when it matters most.”
Setter Maddie Waak ran the Aggie offense with 50 assists as Texas A&M hit .258 as a team. Libero Ava Underwood anchored the defense with 28 digs, helping the Aggies withstand repeated TCU runs. Texas A&M also finished with 11 total team blocks.
TCU was led by Evan Hendrix, who posted a match-high 26 kills on .323 hitting, while former Round Rock High School standout Lauren Murphy added 13 kills and Becca Kelley had 10. The Horned Frogs took the first set and held late advantages in both the third and fourth sets but could not close either one.
The fourth set turned into a marathon as TCU earned six different set-point opportunities, only for Texas A&M to answer each time with clutch kills and key defensive stops before finally finishing the match, 29-27.
“It was interesting, because as a coach you have to think ahead and be present at the same time,” said head coach Jamie Harrison. “Through that set, I was thinking, OK, if it goes to five here’s what’s going to happen, but at the same time, I never count our team out. … as soon as it got tied, I had a pretty good feeling that we were going to pull that out.”
With the win, Texas A&M advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and will face No. 2 seed Louisville in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In a gesture that further energized the Reed Arena crowd, Harrison and the administration covered the cost of student tickets for both the first and second round NCAA Tournament matches, helping pack Reed Arena for the postseason run.
“This place is awesome,” said Ava Underwood. “To see how far it’s come, it’s just really awesome. The fact we get to play in front of those fans ever single day… the 12th Man showed up and this place is going to turn into a volleyball powerhouse. It’s just really great to see.”
