Big weekend awaits Texas A&M as No. 8 Texas, Mizzou venture to Reed
Drum roll, please…
The Lone Star Showdown is back, and Texas A&M volleyball will be the program to usher it back into the spotlight on Friday night at Reed Arena.
First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
“I’m really happy with where the team is at,” head coach Jamie Morrison said on Monday. “We’re healthy. We’re fired up. We’re ready to start SEC play.”
After a weekend on the road that saw the Aggies collect two wins in three games, the Maroon & White is back in College Station to begin conference play against SEC newcomer and eighth-ranked Texas.
A&M is coming off a trip that included stops in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Madison, Wisconsin.
“It was a long road trip. We were gone for five days,” Morrison said. “We kind of ramped up the amount of heat we’re going to see, the amount of quality touches and long rallies we’re going to see.
“I thought we responded really, really well.”
The Aggies knocked off Northern Illinois, 3-1.
The team then suffered its first defeat at the hands of No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers in a 3-0 loss, but the Aggies wrapped up the trip by bouncing back with a 3-0 sweep of Troy.
With the weekend — and non-conference play — over, A&M now stands at a record of 9-1, which is good for second in the SEC behind 10-1 Auburn.
“We played a lot of teams that challenged us in different ways,” junior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla told Texas Aggies United. “Heading into conference play, I’m really excited to see what we do as a team.”
Taking a gander at this weekend’s slate, the Longhorns are among the nation’s best but enter with a record of 5-3. The back-to-back national champions certainly have big aspirations in their first year as a member of the SEC.
“September 27th has been circled on the calendar for a long time by a lot of people,” Morrison said. “For me, it’s adding a lot more interest to what it is we’re doing.
“I think it’s one of the best rivalries in sports. … I think it’s an awesome — I don’t know if it was planned — way to start SEC play to put their right on the forefront of it.”
Texas began the year by defeating then-No. 3 Wisconsin in Milwaukee, 3-1.
However, the Longhorns are still looking to find some consistency and are just 2-2 away from Austin.
Despite that, they’ve won their last two matches by a combined score of 6-1, including a 3-0 sweep of No. 20 Baylor in Waco.
“They’re really good,” Morrison said of Texas. “We played them in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year, and our team showed up to play. I expect that to happen again.
“The level of play is going to be really, really high. … I think both teams are top-25, and I think it will be a battle.”
Texas won that postseason match in Austin, 3-1.
As the series shifts back to Aggieland, Morrison’s experience with Texas volleyball extends well beyond last November’s meeting.
Indeed, the Aggie head man previously served as a volunteer assistant on Jerritt Elliott’s staff in 2021.
“I have a lot of respect for what they do,” Morrison said.
After Friday’s showdown, Missouri ventures to Aggieland for a Sunday match.
The Tigers are 8-3 so far this year, and they have a winning record on their home floor and on the road.
“We need to be good for three days this weekend,” Morrison said on Tuesday’s edition of TexAgs Live. “We need to be good on Friday, we need to be good at recovering on Saturday, and we need to be good at going out on Sunday and winning that match as well.”
All in all, an electric weekend awaits Reed Arena.