Bowling Green, K. – The Texas A&M volleyball team (8-3) swept non-conference play at Tennessee Tech (3-9) Saturday afternoon in the finals of the WKU Invitational at Diddle Arena. The three-set win (25-16, 25-19, 25-17) was A&M’s fifth straight win of the season.
On the defensive end, the Aggies held the Golden Eagles to a .042 hitting percentage, freshman Ifenna Cos OkpallaShe finished with 10 blocks in her first collegiate start. Her 10 hits in a 25-point streak broke the program record for a triple-double and tied for fourth all-time in a game in a streak.
Madison Bowser And Caroline Meuth Bowser led the way with eight hits apiece, hitting a team-best .467 in the game. Logan Lednicki His 25-point streak was the sixth-highest of the season in a three-set match by the Aggies and served a career-high four serves.
Kos-Okpala made an impact as a first-man kill and single gave A&M an early 4-3 edge. Lednicki recorded a pair of aces in a five-point surge for the Aggies, marking the third-straight match that a rookie scored at least two. Back-to-back kills from Bowser helped the Aggies take their biggest lead, before an ace from Mewt lifted the maroon and white to a 22-14 advantage. Blocks by Lednicki and Bowser pushed A&M to score, before taking the set, 25-16, on Bowser’s match-leading fifth kill.
The Aggies got going to start the second before an offensive error by the Golden Eagles turned the momentum around. A&M went on a 7-1 run highlighted by Lednicki’s fourth ace for a 13-9 advantage. Second single from Kos-Okpala, followed by AC Elena Caracassipushed the Yellow and White ahead, 18-11. Lexi Guinn’s. An early career kill gave A&M a five-point cushion, before Kos-Okpala’s solo block of the third sealed it, 25-19.
Two more blocks by Cos-Okpalla helped the rookie get on top in the opening points of the third set. A kill from Caracas forced the Golden Eagles into a 14-10 timeout. A handful of Tennessee Tech mistakes pushed A&M out to its biggest lead, sitting on a seven-point advantage. A murder from Faye Wilbricht. She helped the Aggies to a 21-12 lead off the bench, with her second kill sealing it at 25-17.
Next
Texas A&M opens Southeastern Conference play against Ole Miss on Wednesday. First serve from the Gillum Sports Center is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
Bird bits
Head coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn
General thoughts on non-conference play…
“It’s amazing to see the units we’ve put together in the preseason fighting and continuing to grow as a unit. We like people coming into the game, seeing them play their roles and executing them. We like knowing the game plan and executing it when we get it. That’s what you strive for as a coach and as players. Those moments.” And having experience on the board will help us when we start SEC play.
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