No. 3 Aggies Secure Back-to-Back Sweet 16 Appearances

News release from Texas A&M Athletics:

The No. 3 seed Texas A&M volleyball team ensured back-to-back NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances for the first time in program history after outlasting No. 6 seed TCU in a four-set battle Saturday evening at Reed Arena, 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 29-27).

The Aggies (25-4) secured their largest win single-season win total since 2012 after downing the Horned Frogs (21-11) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The win was made possible behind a balanced offensive outing, as three Aggies struck double-digit kills led by Logan Lednicky’s 21.

Texas A&M came out of the gate on the front foot, creating a three-point advantage behind four kills, two aces and a TCU error (7-4). The visitors strung together a run of their own, to leap ahead at the media timeout (15-12). The Maroon & White cut the deficit to one late in the frame, prompting the Horned Frogs to huddle up (23-22). The Aggies continued to push, but TCU stole the opener, 25-23.

Texas A&M flipped the script entirely in the second, racing out to a seven-point lead at the double-digit mark (10-3). TCU battled all the way back, with a 9-3 streak of its own to shrink the gap to one (13-12). The programs then began to trade blows, with the lead never getting beyond three as they hit 20 points (20-18). Needing to find separation, the Maroon & White did just that courtesy of four-straight kills leaving them one point away. The visitors didn’t back down, but the Aggies sealed the second on a Horned Frog service error (25-22) and knotted the match, 1-1.

Nothing separated the teams through the midway point in the third, as they were knotted at 10-10. The back-and-forth scoring ensued, but TCU broke the deadlock as head coach Jamie Morrison called timeout (19-17). The break is what the Aggies needed, as they turned the set on its head with an 8-4 run capped off by a kill from Emily Hellmuth to take the frame (25-23) and lead in the match, 2-1.

The Horned Frogs came out as the aggressor in the fourth (7-3), but the Maroon & White steadied themselves thanks to Ifenna Cos-Okpalla at the service line. They cut into the advantage forcing a TCU timeout (9-7). Texas A&M kept coming, tacking on another 7-4 streak to capture the lead as the Horned Frogs burned their final break (14-13). The visitors grabbed the frame by the scruff of the neck, leaving themselves one point from victory (24-21). Needing a rally, the Aggies did just that ripping off three-straight points to the send the frame to extras. The teams traded blows with the match on the line, but it was the Maroon & White who came out victorious thanks to Cos-Okpalla’s fourth ace of the game to seal the set, 29-27.

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