Unbelievable theater for these last two matches. Pissed off some NFL friends when I air played my phone and put on the last two sets today. They are having a hard time admitting our ladies were waaaaayyyyyy more entertaining than the football game they were missing. Go Ags! Loved it!
Photo by Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
Click HERE to view Texas A&M’s postgame press conference.
Match #31: #3 Texas A&M X, #1 Nebraska 2
S1: A&M, 25-22; S2: A&M, 25-22; S3: NEB, 25-20; S4: NEB, 37-35; S5: A&M, 15-13
Records: Texas A&M (27-4, 14-1), Nebraska (33-1, 20-0)
Box Score
On the Ags’ fourth nail-biting set point of the match, Nebraska launched the ball over one final time.
Dug out by Emily Hellmuth, straight to Maddie Waak, who already knew how the play ended before it began.
Waak did her classic backwards pass to the sweet spot, and the legendary Logan Lednicky was right there, ready for her fearless swing to end it all.
The kill that silenced the Bob. The kill that shocked the world.
In a five-set, Maroon and Red blood-boiling thriller, the Fightin’ Texas Aggies took down the goliath of volleyball — No. 1 undefeated Nebraska.
In the most hostile arena of collegiate volleyball. Against a team that hadn’t lost a home set in three months.
A&M never flinched. They broke through. Belief outlasted perfection.
As written on a paper to the team from the anonymous angel of volleyball, “Something great is about to happen.”
Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
Texas A&M clinched a spot in the Final Four for the first time in program history.
And it did.
And it all started with head coach Jamie Morrison’s message to his team before the match.
“There’s no little ounce of me that is scared of them,” Morrison said pregame. “They’re a very good volleyball team with great human beings, but I’m not scared because we are prepared for this. I’m not scared because you were born for this as competitors to step out in this environment.
“It will be loud. Use your breath to stay calm in those moments. It will be hard, but we are prepped because you know who you are as human beings and volleyball players. Our job is to let that out into the world.”
The chosen words of Morrison made the Aggies battle-ready, but also calm and collected, which is the greatest desire for any coach to see.
The philosophy of the program propelled them through the war zone to victory.
The historic win sends A&M to its first-ever Final Four, where the Aggies will face a tough Pittsburgh team led by the notorious Olivia Babcock on Thursday.
But if the Aggies stick to the fearlessness that Morrison instilled in them, then they should have no problem pushing through to the championship.
Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
The Aggies out-hit the Cornhuskers .286 to .050 in the fifth set.
Led by a relentless, balanced attack, the Aggies matched Nebraska point-for-point across the five intense sets. A&M finished the night hitting .275 percent compared to Nebraska’s .270 percent, exemplifying the physicality of every rally.
While the Aggies doubled the Cornhuskers in service errors (12-6), they answered back with nine aces and suffocating defense, out-blocking Nebraska 30-16.
Kyndal Stowers powered through one of the tallest sets of blockers in the nation as she earned a career-high 25 kills. Lednicky was right behind her with 24 kills and six blocks, fully demonstrating the player she was born to be. Hellmuth followed with 13 kills, four blocks and two aces.
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla illustrated why she is the silencer as her eight blocks and two aces struck fear throughout the arena. Her partner-in-crime, Morgan Perkins, was right there with her, leading the team with nine stuffs. Their collective performance showcased why they are the nation's greatest middle blocking duo.
And then there was Waak. The heart of the system, orchestrating it all.
She conducted the offense with a career-best 63 assists and four aces in a masterclass of composure.
From the opening serve, Nebraska made its intentions clear.
Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
After taking a year off from volleyball, Kyndal Stowers accumulated a career-high 25 kills to aid A&M’s miracle upset in Lincoln.
They exploded, rushing to a 9-3 lead behind their signature fast-paced, high-physicality offense. Morrison knew he had to call an early first timeout. As always, he was right, and the Ags shook off the early nerves and answered with determination.
A stunning 10-0 run flipped the script, forcing Nebraska to burn both of its timeouts. Waak’s ace handed the Huskers their first home set loss since Sept. 12.
A&M’s momentum rode on its back into the second stanza as the Ags refused to retreat. The team's valiantness pushed them to take control and keep it. Lednicky tooled the block to seal a 25-22 win and a shocking two-set advantage.
Nebraska responded in set three, fully looking like the No. 1 overall seed. Bergen Reilly organized flawless sets for Harper Murray and Rebekah Allick, who helped overwhelm the Aggies and steal the set, 25-20.
The fourth frame was chaos. The Aggies were ahead 15-10 and on pace to end the match, but what followed was one of the most anxiety-inducing stretches of volleyball this season has seen.
Nebraska had eight set points to force a fifth frame, but the Aggies erased each one. Then the wind shifted, and the Ags had three chances of their own, each were denied. But it all ended with a slight tip off of Stowers’ pinky, giving the Cornhuskers the hard-fought set, 37-35.
Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
The Maroon & White will face the Pitt Panthers in the Final Four, Thursday, Dec. 18, in Kansas City, Missouri.
By then, A&M was precisely where it wanted to be. The Aggies were used to this kind of long-game pressure, an advantage over the Huskers.
An impressive pancake from Ava Underwood, who had been a mega hustler all game, created the moment for the Ags to be up 9-6. Then, Cos-Okpalla was banged up trying to dig Laney Choboy’s ace as A&M called a timeout to regroup at 13-11.
And the inevitable happened. The legendary Lednicky kill that will go down in history to secure the match, 15-13.
The Aggies did the impossible.
“We’re the grittiest team in the country by far,” Lednicky said. “They pushed back after the first two sets, and I think we just out-gritted them in the end.”
Texas A&M is no longer chasing fantasy. The Aggies are living their greatest fairy tale.
Powered through their season-long unshakable faith and belief in having what it takes to reach their highest aspirations.
They turned possibility into reality. Something extraordinary happened in Lincoln.
Aggieland will feel it for generations.
And the sport of volleyball will remember it forever.
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