By Michael Adams
Austin Sports Journal
Texas A&M is headed to the national championship match for the first time in school history.
Behind a balanced and efficient offensive performance, the Aggies swept Pittsburgh 29-27, 25-21, 25-20 Thursday night in the NCAA volleyball semifinals at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
The victory sends Texas A&M (28-4) into Sunday’s national championship match, where it will face the winner of Kentucky and Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. The match will air nationally on ABC.
“I’m proud of our team,” said head coach Jamie Morrison. “We talk a lot about staying present and enjoying moments, and I thought in those moments, we were enjoying every single minute of it.”
The Aggies hit .382 as a team and controlled the match from the service line and at the net, weathering Pitt’s strongest pushes before closing each set with poise. Texas A&M finished with 52 kills and six team blocks, holding Pitt to a .344 hitting percentage.
Kyndal Stowers led the Aggies with 16 kills on a .433 hitting percentage, adding two block assists and six digs. Logan Lednicky followed with 14 kills, while middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla was dominant in the middle, posting eight kills on 13 swings for a .538 hitting percentage and a team-high five block assists.
“Pure gratitude, this is crazy,” Stowers said. “We have had faith in ourselves all year, from the first game of the season we knew what we were capable of, but now living it, this is insane.”
Setter Maddie Waak put together a masterful performance and orchestrated the offense with 48 assists and added three service aces, helping Texas A&M consistently find seams against Pitt’s block. Emily Hellmuth chipped in eight kills, while Morgan Perkins added five more to round out the balanced attack.
The opening set proved to be the most dramatic of the night. Pitt saved multiple set points and pushed the frame to 27-all, but Texas A&M closed it out behind a service ace from Tatum Thomas and a final kill from Stowers to seize a 29-27 win and early momentum.
From there, the Aggies settled in. Texas A&M used a mid-set surge to pull away in the second set, capitalizing on Pitt errors and strong blocking at the net. The third set followed a similar script, with the Aggies breaking open a tight frame behind timely serving runs and efficient offense to seal the straight-sets victory.
Pitt was led by Olivia Babcock’s 22 kills, but the Panthers struggled to find consistent support as Texas A&M limited second-chance opportunities and controlled side-out situations.
The semifinal win continues a historic postseason run for the Aggies under head coach Jamie Morrison, who was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year earlier this week. In just his first season at the helm, Morrison has guided Texas A&M to its first-ever appearance in the national championship match.
Now, one more step remains.
With a chance to claim the program’s first national title, Texas A&M will take the court Sunday afternoon with even more history on the line.
“I think this is a testemate to the work we put in the practice gym and in all of our careers,” Lednicky said. “It’s been a long time coming, there’s a lot, a lot of work put into this, and we know we have the right group of girls to go win this thing.”
