At every home volleyball game, the Aggie student section is heard commanding “Old Army” to “fight.” Old Army listened, and it didn’t simply fight; it dominated.
No. 16 Texas A&M volleyball welcomed South Carolina to Reed Arena on Sunday, Sept. 27, for A&M’s first Southeastern Conference matchup of the season. The Maroon and White executed their second straight sweep, 25-14, 25-14, 25-18. The matchup marked the Gamecocks’ second SEC game of the season, moving them to 0-2 after a loss to Georgia on Sept. 23.
The Aggies came out swinging, literally. Head coach Jamie Morrison’s squad picked up a total of 19 kills in the first set alone, which led to the 25-14 win. In a standout performance, sophomore opposite hitter Taryn Morris recorded five kills in Set 1, a career-high total of 15 kills on zero errors, hitting .682.
“I was really seeing the block,” Morris said. “And I just used space, hands … anything to my advantage.”
After taking Set 1, A&M began the second set with a seven-point run over South Carolina. Four of the seven points were recorded due to errors made by the Gamecocks. Senior outside hitter Kyndal Stowers contributed four kills to the second set, marking her 500th career kill at A&M. Sophomore OH Megan Fitch reached a milestone of her own, recording her 100th career kill in the second frame.
Never trailing, the Aggies took Set 2, 25-14.
“The SEC is a deep conference, for the team to come out and play like that, I thought we were really dialed in, really focused,” Morrison said. “And I thought we played really clean volleyball.”
Clean indeed, as A&M totaled 48 kills across the three sets, compared to South Carolina’s 21. The Aggies also recorded a .385 hitting percentage compared to the Gamecocks’ .062 total.
The Gamecocks dialed in for Set 3, beginning the set with a point scored off of an Aggie error. Tied at 3-3, A&M gained the lead, 6-3, after a pair of kills by Morris, followed by an attack error from South Carolina’s sophomore OH Olivia Borgman. The Maroon and White surrendered 18 points to their opponent, but ultimately took Set 3, 25-18.
Sophomore setter Kirra Musgrove recorded 36 assists throughout the game, helping her fellow Aggies to a .537 hitting percentage on her sets.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing,” Musgrove said in regard to her success. “I can really trust anyone. Just been following our scouting report, like really finding who’s hot, and I think that’s just been really healthy.”
The Fightin’ Farmers drew a crowd of over 4,600 people to Reed Arena for Sunday’s match, the 10th highest attendance in program history.
“I think it’s so cool, we literally have the best fanbase,” Morris said. “And we just know, like, they are going to be behind us 100% every single time. It’s just so awesome.”
Though the Aggies swept their opponent, they were without a usual starter, junior middle blocker Eliza Sharp. Sharp suffered an ankle injury against Creighton on Sept. 20 and has not appeared since. Without Sharp on the court, freshman MB Lolufe Aledeji stepped up. In today’s game, Aledeji recorded eight kills and totaled a .700 hitting percentage.
A&M began its conference season with a win, but there’s a lot of volleyball left to be played.
“We have 15 opportunities to introduce ourselves to the SEC,” Morrison said. “And how we show up in 0-0 matters.”
The message was received by his team, which is 8-1 in games where they have won the first set.
The Aggies look to extend their win streak to five games in their next conference matchup against Alabama, which will take place at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 2, at 6:30 p.m.