Aggies Sweep South Alabama in Season Opener

Friday, August 30

Mobile, Ala.

5:30 PM

Texas A&M

1-0,0-0SEC

South Alabama

0-1,0-0Sun Belt

Texas A&M

South Alabama

Aug 30, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Sam Thornton, Athletics Communications

MOBILE, Ala. – The Texas A&M volleyball team won its opening match of the season, as it swept South Alabama behind a dominant offensive performance from Logan Lednicky Friday at the Jaguar Gym, 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-11).

The Maroon & White (1-0) won their second-straight season opener under the leadership of head coach Jamie Morrison with the sweep over South Alabama (0-1). Lednicky logged 15 kills on the night, hitting an efficient .565 percent on 23 swings and had set-winnings kills in both the first and second frames.

In the opening frame of the season the Aggies came out as the aggressors, racing out to a four-point lead at the media timeout, 15-11. Another A&M flurry forced South Alabama to burn a pair of timeouts, as the Maroon & White held a five-point advantage, 21-16. The Jaguars rallied late, however a pair of kills from both Lednicky and Emily Hellmuth secured the first set for the Aggies, 25-22.

South Alabama flipped the momentum at the start of the second frame (5-2), but once again the Maroon & White battled back to knot the match at 10. Back-and-forth volleyball ensued as the teams remained in lockstep at 24. A&M had three match-points answered, however it would not be stopped the fourth time, as Lednicky landed the set-winning kill (28-26) doubling the Maroon & White's advantage, 2-0.

It was all A&M in the third frame, as the group started the set on a 12-5 run, prompting a South Alabama timeout. The Maroon & White didn't take their foot off the gas, extending their advantage to 10 as the Jaguars called their final timeout (17-7). Leaving no doubt, the Aggies continued the onslaught, and a block from Hellmuth and Ifenna Cos-Okpalla sealed the sweep (25-11), 3-0.

The team as a whole had an efficient night, finishing the match with a .358 hitting percentage, including a staggering .696 percentage in the close-out set with 18 kills on 23 attempts and only two errors.

COACH'S QUOTES
Head coach Jamie Morrison on today's match …
"It's great to be back. I thought we took a while to play like us, but we got there in the third and I was really excited about that. Hats off to South Alabama, they played a really good match and pushed us in the first and second sets."

Morrison on the team's third-set performance …
"In that third set I thought that we were playing like us and played to win. We let ourselves flow and that was evident. I was proud of the fact we did that and now we just need to do earlier in the match."

STAT LEADERS
Kills – Logan Lednicky – 15
Hitting Percentage – Logan Lednicky – .565
Assists – Maddie Waak – 36
Aces – Ellee Stinson – 2
Digs – Ava Underwood – 8
Blocks – Logan Lednicky, Morgan Perkins, Ital Lopuyo, Ifenna Cos-Okpalla - 3

UP NEXT
The Aggies return to Jaguar Gym tomorrow to face McNeese with first serve set for 11 a.m.

FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.