No. 13 Aggies Down No. 21 Missouri in Conference Opener

News release from Texas A&M Athletics:

The No. 13 Texas A&M volleyball team downed No. 21 Missouri in its conference opener Wednesday evening at Reed Arena, 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 24-26, 25-8).

The Aggies (9-2, 1-0 SEC) extended their winning streak to four, while also capturing their first SEC win of the season versus the Tigers (8-4, 0-1 SEC). Texas A&M’s victory was highlighted by Kyndal Stowers’ 16 kills on offense, while Ifenna Cos-Okpalla was the defensive anchor logging a season-high 10 blocks.

The Maroon & White opened the match on fire, ripping off a 5-0 streak to start the game. The Tigers battled back within one (7-6), however another Texas A&M flurry had the hosts up four at the media timeout, 15-11. The momentum held through the break, leading the Aggies to extend their lead despite a pair of Missouri timeouts (22-14). The train kept rolling, as Maroon & White took the opener, 25-20.

Quick starts remained the theme with Texas A&M pushing out to a five-point advantage at the double-digit mark (10-5). The onslaught continued with the Aggies expanding the gap to seven, as the Tigers called their first break of the set (17-10). The final kick was spurred by Maddie Waak, as she recorded back-to-back aces as well as assisting four kills to double the lead (25-17), 2-0.

Both teams came out of gate in the third trading blows, finding level seven times on their way to 11-11. The visitors forged a gap, prompting head coach Jamie Morrison to huddle up his squad (14-11). The two teams battled back-and-forth going into extras, however the Tigers claimed a set back in the match (26-24), 2-1.

The Maroon & White were fired out of a cannon in the fourth behind three-straight blocks, as the visitors burned an early timeout, 6-1. Missouri didn’t have a response, as it remained all Aggies with the lead extending to 10 forcing another Tiger break (15-5). Following the timeout, Texas A&M surged with seven unanswered points, leaving them three away from victory (22-6). The Maroon & White’s offense sealed the deal through a pair of kills from Cos-Okpalla and one from Stowers to clinch the set (25-8) and match, 3-1.

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