COLLEGE STATION, Texas — After taking down Colorado State and Arizona State in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Aggie volleyball team is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 5 years.
“It was just the best feeling ever,” Aggie volleyball middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla said. “I just, I didn't even like, know what to feel. It was just like Emily just aced that ball and I just like turned around and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, like guys, we, we did it like we did it.’ All the work that we put in the time, the patience, the trust everything had just like we, it just finally just came out.
In head coach Jamie Morrison's second season at the helm, the Aggies are a win away from reaching the Elite Eight for just the third time in program history.
“I'm proud of our staff, I'm proud of our players.” Morrison said. “It's a combination of all of this. It's, it's a lot of hard work that's been put into developing human beings and volleyball players that are here. It's understanding that this is a long-term build that we want to build this thing into something beyond what it even was then and that's a program that's consistently in the final four. I think this is pointing to the fact that we're headed in that direction.”
In order to get there, the Aggies face their next challenge this Friday when they take on the No. 2 seeded Wisconsin Badgers.
“They are, a really good volleyball team,” Aggie volleyball opposite hitter Logan Lednicky said. “They have some really dynamic, physical players.”
“They're all around a very great team,” Cos-Okpalla said. “I think their work and the way they play shows it.”
Earlier this season, Wisconsin swept A&M in three sets, but the volleyball season is a long one and the Aggies are a much different team than they were back in September.
“We as a team have developed and grown so much in like all aspects, defense offense serving,” Cos-Okpalla said. “I think we've fired on all fronts this season and I think that all the work that we put in, I think we’ll be a completely different team come Friday.”
“I think the way that we practice, the way we train, we're set up to play a team just exactly like this,” Lednicky said. “I know in the next few days we'll be back at work, but I think we put a lot of training into preparing for a match like this so, yeah, I think we'll be ready.”
“It will be a battle, but again, we're not scared of them,” Morrison said. “We're playing really good volleyball right now and I'm happy to go to battle with our group.”
Texas A&M will head to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on Wisconsin. First serve is set for 6pm on ESPN2.
