How the Texas A&M Aggies swept Kentucky to win national volleyball title in KC
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- Texas A&M swept Kentucky in Kansas City, securing the program's first national title
- Aggies overcame an early six-point deficit, using blocks and timely kills to dominate
- Stowers and Lednicky led kills; Cos-Okpalla was a key blocker in the 3‑set sweep
In front of a buzzing, sold-out T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, the Texas A&M Aggies volleyball team put a cap on the best season in program history by sweeping Kentucky and winning its first national championship.
The crowd was dominated by fans of the two finalist schools, mostly Texas A&M fans, but Nebraska fans made a strong showing again, too — their Cornhuskers lost to the Aggies in a regional final last week.
Local coaches and fans also filled the stands, as did some supporters of the country’s two pro volleyball leagues — Major League Volleyball and League One Volleyball.
Attendees gasped, cheered and yelled as they enjoyed the athletic feats of the women on the court. And fans might have been most awed by the thrilling play and swaggeriffic stylings of Texas A&M.
More than 24 hours after Texas A&M’s football team lost to Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the volleyball squad brought home the crown in another historic first: an all-Southeastern Conference final. The Aggies avenged a 3-1 loss to the Wildcats on Oct. 8.
“We’re happy we could give this to the 12th Man,” Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison said, noting he’d received best wishes via text from Aggies football coach Mike Elko, whose wife attended the finale in KC.
Morrison said he felt an energy shift from Thursday’s semifinals to Sunday’s championship. The arena was roaring with Aggies who’d descended on Kansas City after the semifinals.
“The first night it felt like people were watching a volleyball match,” Morrison said. “This night we felt like we were playing a home match.”
Morrison, recognized as the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year earlier in the week, wrapped up his third year as a college head coach in style.
“It was an amazing feeling to have that many people travel,” he said of the turnout. “(It’s w)hy I’m so fired up to be where I’m at right now, because I think we can create a place ... where people are going to travel to watch us play. I think we can ignite a fan base around the sport of volleyball that they’re going to travel to watch volleyball. It happened tonight.”
How the Aggies clinched their spot in history
No. 1 seed Kentucky opened the match with a 10-4 lead, circumnavigating third-seeded A&M’s block and taking advantage of some defensive errors by the Aggies.
Texas A&M trailed by as much as six points but stormed back with timely kills from its stars — Kyndal Stowers, Logan Lednicky and Ifenna Cos-Okpalla — and some defensive recoveries.
The Aggies won the final three points of the set en route to a 26-24 score. The Wildcats had an attacking percentage below .100, dipping into the negatives throughout the set.
The Aggies kept their hot hand in the second set. Their elite block forced Kentucky into several errors and gave the maroon-clad side a 10-5 lead at the first timeout. A&M’s lead swelled to as large as 11 on the way to a 25-15 final.
The second set was punctuated by several A&M rallies and blocks and kills from Lednicky and Stowers. One of Stowers’ kills bounced off of the chest of Kentucky outside hitter and Topeka native Brooklyn DeLeye, igniting the rowdy 12th Man element in the stands.
Texas A&M continued its strong and fiery play in the third and final set, opening with a 6-1 run. The Aggies dominated the net, as they had in sets 1 and 2, holding Kentucky to a .148 attacking percentage and forcing 23 attacking errors. A&M hit .248, with seven blocks to Kentucky’s five.
All-Americans Stowers (10 kills, six digs, two service aces) and Lednicky (11 kills, seven digs, two blocks) set the tone all afternoon for the Aggies. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla (seven kills, four blocks, two service aces) led them in blocks, with Morgan Perkins and setter Maddie Waak collecting three apiece. Waak also added 29 assists to her teammates.
The Aggies lauded Kentucky as a great team and were still laughing in disbelief after the match, awed by their own accomplishments.
“I think knowing and going back to our loss to them earlier this season, and it’s so ironic that the next time we would play them would literally be for a national championship title,” Cos-Okpalla said. “We talk about all the time, like, who we want to be as a team, identity-wise personally. I think everything just came together tonight.”
Toward the end of the match, Aggies fans chanted “Why not us” — the team’s mantra throughout the season. It began as a chant between the boyfriends of Lednicky and senior libero Ava Underwood.
“We kind of took it and ran with it,” Lednicky said. “It’s a testament to the hard work this program has put in all year long, staff, players. That’s such a great statement. ‘Why not us’ has turned into ‘It is us’. I think with that dog mentality all season long, all tournament long, we knew it was going to be us.”
Stowers won Most Outstanding Player of the tournament while Lednicky, Cos-Okpalla, Underwood, Kentucky outside hitter Eva Hudson and two-time AVCA Player of the Year Pittsburgh outside hitter Olivia Babock were named to the All-Tournament team.
The tournament was a special, emotional experience for Stowers, and she shed tears after the win. She was medically retired at Baylor two years ago because of repeated concussions. Instead of playing, she sat at home watching the tournament, away from sports and not even enrolled in college.
Now she’s a national champion, voted the best player of the whole tournament.
“So beyond joyful,” she said. “It was a journey to get here. Good days; bad days. It took (Morrison) believing in me after not playing volleyball for over a year and a half, to take me on his roster and coach me every single day, again, after not playing volleyball for a year and a half.
“All of these girls trusting me to come in and take that role on from the first day, and just the leadership that they have had through every single day. I hadn’t been a college athlete in a long time. The season gets long and I hadn’t been through that. They were with me every single day, regardless of the highs and lows. The joy I’m feeling in this moment is genuinely is just a testament to everybody around me.”
Eva Hudson led Kentucky with 13 kills. Topeka native DeLeye, who has played through a torn meniscus for the Wildcats since August and excelled through some struggles in the Final Four, collected nine kills and eight digs, while Lizzie Carr and Asia Thigpen smacked seven kills each.
Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner applauded DeLeye’s resilience and spirit throughout the season.
“She’s one hell of an athlete, one hell of a competitor,” Skinner said. “Someone that is not about Brooklyn, she’s about all the people she’s around. She gives her heart and soul to her teammates and the program. Couldn’t be more proud of her as a person and athlete.”
Texas A&M is the lowest seed to win the title since UCLA won as the No. 9 overall seed in 2011. The Aggies are also the fifth team to beat three No. 1 seeds en route to the championship.
A&M finishes the season 29-4, snapping Kentucky’s 27-game win streak. The Wildcats end the year with a record of 30-3 record after winning the SEC title.
This story was originally published December 21, 2025 at 4:39 PM.
