No. 9 Aggies overwhelm Owls to begin Rice Invitational in Houston

Match #2: No. 9 Texas A&M 3, Rice 0
S1: A&M, 25-13; S2: A&M, 25-16; S3: A&M, 25-18
Records: Texas A&M (2-0, 0-0), Rice (0-1, 0-0)
Box Score

Dominance at the Tudor Fieldhouse. 

Texas A&M volleyball swept the Rice Owls on Friday night in Houston, 3-0. The match served as the opening of the Rice Invitational and marked the first of two matches the Aggies play this weekend.

Coming off their opening night win against No. 11 Minnesota, where All-American Logan Lednicky dominated with 22 kills, the Aggies marched through the Owls to a 2-0 start to 2025. There was a high level of competitiveness shown during the opener, and that spirit seemed to be amplified on Friday.

A&M began the match with a desire to fight. Their fiery pace was evident from the start of the first set, with Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and Kyndal Stowers quickly getting the team’s first three kills.

The Maroon & White never trailed during the first set as they conquered the scoreboard 25-13.

Rice, led by head coach Genny Volpe, a former A&M standout in the early 90s, looked to find some drive for her team in the second set. While the Owls found immediate improvement, it was no match for the Aggies’ tight-knit chemistry.

Setter Maddie Waak distributed the ball effectively — leading to consistent kills from Lednicky, Stowers, Emily Hellmuth and Morgan Perkins — helping the team close the set 25-16. Waak finished the game with 24 assists, two blocks and a service ace.

Cooper Daniels, TexAgs

Kyndal Stowers led the Aggies with 10 kills on Friday night.

In the third set, the Owls seemed to lose their grip as A&M continued to drive forward to a 14-6 lead. Still, Rice managed to develop a final spark as the home side got the deficit down to 16-13. However, the fire was quickly extinguished by the Aggies, who won the final frame 25-18.

Volpe, who still holds the A&M career record for matches and sets played, tried to guide the Owls to keep up with the Aggies’ star power, but the Maroon & White ultimately outpaced Rice.

Speaking of records, Waak is now two assists shy of 2,500 in her career, while Lednicky is now one kill shy of 1,250. Unfortunately, Lednicky ended her 25-match streak of double-kills as she logged just eight on Friday. To counter that with good news, Perkins recorded her 200th career block tonight.

In just her second match as an Aggie, Stowers demonstrated potential as she led A&M with 10 kills. She also recorded two service aces, five digs, three blocks and a .240 hitting percentage.

Although not as dominant defensively as her performance against Minnesota, Cos-Okpalla still earned five blocks. She also recorded two service aces, five kills and had a .600 hitting percentage.

With the sweep against Rice, the Aggies (2-0) proved they will be a tough team to play going forward. Their consistency highlighted their depth and their chemistry as a program.

The match belonged to A&M, whose high tempo seemed to overwhelm the Owls from start to finish.

The action at the Rice Invitational continues on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 2 p.m., when the Maroon & White face Central Arkansas.