By Michael Adams
Austin Sports Journal
Two match points away from history, Texas A&M watched top overall seed Nebraska refuse to go quietly.
Eight set points later, 22 lead changes and one deafening arena silenced, the Aggies finally claimed a moment that will forever define the program.
The Aggies stunned top overall seed and previously undefeated Nebraska in epic fashion, 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 35-37, 15-13, Sunday afternoon at a packed Bob Devaney Sports Center to secure the program’s first Final Four appearance.
“We knew who we were playing coming into this match and we all looked at each other and said, why not us,” said senior Logan Lednicky. “Like, we’ve been saying it this whole weekend, before the Louisville match, and going into this like, who cares about the logo across the net from us… like, why can’t it be us to get to the Final Four.”
Texas A&M will face Pitt Thursday evening at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City with a spot in the national championship match on the line.
The Aggies (27-4) controlled the early stages of the match, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with a fast, physical attack that consistently beat the Nebraska block.
Kyndal Stowers and Lednicky powered the offense from the pins, while setter Maddie Waak kept the Huskers off balance as the Aggies took the first two sets 25-22, 25-22 in one of the nation’s most hostile environments.
“It was everything that you say about this team right here,” said head coach Jamie Morrison. “The fact that we got down and went on a service run, and did the things that we did in a really, really crazy environment, and this place is amazing… whatever it was in that fourth set, I couldn’t hear myself thing, and I respect that.”
Nebraska (33-1) answered in the third, leaning on Harper Murray and Rebekah Allick to shift momentum and extend the match. But the fourth set became an instant classic. Texas A&M reached match point twice, only to see Nebraska fight off elimination time and again. The Huskers earned eight set points of their own, and the set alone featured 22 lead changes as neither team could break free. Nebraska survived with a 37-35 win to force a fifth.
Instead of unraveling, the Aggies responded like they have all season.
Texas A&M reset quickly in the decisive set, trading points until the closing stretch. Stowers delivered timely kills, Lednicky controlled the net with her blocking presence, and the Aggies executed under pressure to close out the match 15-13, stunning the crowd and sealing one of the biggest wins in program history.
You feel like you’ve given everything to try to take the game and come up a little short,” Lednicky said. “That’s like so tough, emotionally. But I think we honestly took a lot of deep breaths right before we went out there and we were like, we have more to give. We all 100% have more to give, and just kind of recollected ourselves, brought our, you know, adrenaline counter five, as we like to say.”
Stowers finished with a match-high 25 kills on .327 hitting, while Lednicky added 24 kills and six blocks in a dominant all-around performance. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla was nearly automatic in the middle, recording six kills on .600 hitting with five block assists, and Waak tallied 63 assists to guide an A&M attack that hit .275 for the match.
Nebraska was led by Murray’s 25 kills, but Texas A&M’s balance and ability to respond after an intense fourth-set proved decisive in a match that featured 34 tie scores and 13 lead changes overall.
Support Local Journalism
Your voluntary donation helps us keep Austin Sports Journal free and local, while supporting our mission of providing community-focused sports coverage.