Jamie Morrison and the Fightin’ Texas Aggie volleyball team open the 2025 season on Monday with a neutral-site showdown vs. No. 11 Minnesota in the AVCA First Serve. We’re looking ahead to the upcoming campaign with our 2025 Texas A&M Volleyball Preview Series.
Audiences hush when Ifenna Cos-Okpalla rises above the net.
Her hands are steady. Her mind is focused. And her technique… Flawless.
Her natural athletic instincts make her more than a top blocker.
They make her the silencer.
In July, those instincts carried Cos-Okpalla to the international stage, where she led the United States U23 national team to a gold medal at the Pan American Cup in Mexico — earning the tournament MVP and Best Blocker honors.
For the senior middle blocker, the moment served as a reminder of how far she has come as an athlete and proof that Texas A&M has developed her skills to prepare her for competing at higher levels.
“I think anywhere you go that’s not familiar is a learning opportunity,” Cos-Okpalla said. “Being in the gym with some of the other best girls in the country and then competing overseas against different styles of play sharpens the tools you already have. I feel like I am bringing more with me after practicing with the women’s national team and competing in Mexico.”
Those sharpened tools now return to College Station, where she eagerly anticipates her senior year not only as a veteran leader but as part of the core front of an Aggie volleyball program that has dramatically transformed during her collegiate career.
Long before she became the Aggies’ net silencer, Cos-Okpalla arrived on campus with a resume full of potential. An AVCA high school All-American, her freshman year was awaited with high expectations, but it didn’t go exactly as planned.
“I didn’t have a great freshman year or a great experience,” Cos-Okpalla said. “Things could have gone one of two ways, but I decided to stick it out, trust my training, trust the new coaching staff and everybody that came in. Honestly, every time people ask, I always say it’s one of the best decisions I've ever made.”
Instead of transferring to get a fresh start, she decided to finish what she started. She trusted the new direction A&M was taking by hiring coach Jamie Morrison, and soon the road to success was clear for her.
“People tell me I’ve grown so fast in such little time,” Cos-Okpalla said. “I can only credit that to the coaches that came here and changed the culture. It helped me bloom into the player I am today.”
The Aggies’ competitive spirit was a natural fit for Cos-Okpalla. Morrison’s diverse coaching background brought an innovative perspective that allowed her to grow.
“I think my playing style fits really well into his system,” Cos-Okpalla said. “I don’t know a better coach who could have come in at the time he came. I feel like my playing style has improved so quickly. He comes from a really diverse volleyball background, so when he’s teaching us, he is really easy to listen to. Every practice is a learning moment.”
Under this program transformation, more freedom was created to allow the players to become who they are meant to be as athletes.
“It’s never pressure to do better. It’s just pressure to learn,” Cos-Okpalla said. “Once you learn it, it’s automatically in your toolkit. I always try to have an emphasis on something during practice. I’m always trying to fine-tune my game.”
Senior Morgan Perkins has seen her growth first-hand. When asked about their recent stretch of practice, Perkins confirmed that Cos-Okpalla has returned as a transformed volleyball player.
“She came back upgraded in every single area, to the point where she’s almost unstoppable,” Perkins said. “I sadly didn’t get to see the game, but I immediately noticed that she came back a lot better.”
Perkins, who is also a central piece of the Aggies’ middle blocker group, highlighted how Cos-Okpalla continues to keep the energy high and competitive. She emphasized how they are constantly motivating each other to play to the best of their ability.
Perkins alluded to Cos-Okpalla’s continuation of this mentality off the court and how it challenges the team to bolster that mindset as well.
When asked about her growth from her freshman year to senior year, Cos-Okpalla admitted that her strongest area of development was in her mind.
“The one thing that’s really helped my game is growing my mind,” she said. “You can always get better volleyball skills, but I don’t think much can come from it if you’re not changing the conversations between your own two ears. People say that can be your biggest enemy or your biggest hype man, and that’s really true.
“Looking back to when I was a freshman versus now, the things that I do for myself are so much different, and I think it’s made an extreme difference in who I am as a player.”
Now, going into year four, Cos-Okpalla knows exactly how to tune her focus on the pivotal factors of the game.
From getting to know her mind, she knows how to motivate herself and knows when to utilize her playing ability correctly.
“Things don’t always go your way,” Cos-Okpalla said. “If I am not hitting well, then I try to contribute more in blocking for the team, and vice versa. If I’m doing neither of those, then I am lifting up my teammates and helping those who are playing on fire to continue to bring that fire. Usually, my fire comes back when I focus on others. Helping them helps me and, in return, helps the whole team.”
This experience and leadership from Cos-Okpalla’s words bring some evidence that the Aggies can match or even exceed their expectations.
As someone now in a mentorship position, she can pass on her captaincy skills to her teammates.
“I think that leadership can either be by voice or by example,” Cos-Okpalla said. “I have taken on more of the example role. When people see someone going their hardest and giving everything that they have, it’s easy to want to do the same thing because we all share the same goal.”
With nine seniors on A&M’s 2025 roster, the leadership levels are off-the-chart.
Each Aggie freshman has their own big sister who acts as a mentor during their transition to college volleyball.
“We have other vocal leaders on our team that lead very well and who we all respond to very well,” Cos-Okpalla said. “Ava (Underwood) and Logan (Lednicky) are great vocal leaders, and even some of the newcomers like Kyndal Stowers, too.
“I think it’s easy when there are a bunch of different leaders on the team that all lead in different ways. It helps the team get even better and hold each other accountable.”
Knowing this is her final season as an Aggie, Cos-Okpalla is trying to slow the 2025 season down so that she doesn’t have to say goodbye too quickly.
In doing so, the senior has been reflecting on her collegiate career with gratitude and blessings.
“Knowing that because it’s my senior year, my last year of eligibility, I think I have definitely been more intentional in the weight room and the practice room,” she said. “It would be different if I had a fifth year, but I am soaking everything in by doing the best that I can and leading my team by example.
“Knowing that it is my last go-around, I’m not going to get another opportunity like this. I have approached it like it is bittersweet, but I think I can enjoy what is going on while it’s going on, rather than worrying about the future.”
Though the main priority is the 2025 season, Cos-Okpalla has not entirely shied away from conversations on where she sees herself beyond Aggieland. With her consistent training regimen, she hopes to continue to do what she loves.
“I do plan on playing professionally,” Cos-Okpalla said. “That’s the hope, that’s the goal. I am using this season as a building block. I’ve had great past seasons, but this is my last one with these girls and these coaches. I’m really trying to soak everything up, but at the same time using this as time to prepare myself for what’s coming next.”
Texas A&M volleyball is going into the 2025 season with the momentum of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, where the Aggies reached the Sweet 16. Though A&M ultimately lost in a five-set match to Wisconsin, Cos-Okpalla played with a fiery spirit — ending the match with 10 blocks.
Last year, Cos-Okpalla led the SEC with 1.46 blocks per set. She also totaled 161 blocks, making her one of the most dominant defenders in the country.
Those ridiculous stats rank second in the A&M record books for single-season blocks and average blocks per set.
Additionally, she owned the highest hitting percentage on the team at .374. Furthermore, she racked up 228 kills.
At the end of 2024, she earned All-SEC First Team honors and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American honors.
Going into 2025, Cos-Okpalla was named to the Preseason All-SEC Team alongside Lednicky. This marks back-to-back honors for Cos-Okpalla as she continues to keep the ball rolling.
Of course, the Aggies will face a challenging 2025 conference schedule, but the star middle has prepared everything for this moment.
“Texas will be a really good game,” Cos-Okpalla said. “The SEC is going to be a grind. I’m grateful we’re ranked so high, but that means there’s a target on our back. It’s up to everyone in our program to know that people are coming for us now that we’ve made a name for ourselves, coming off the run we had last season. All 17 of us are firing on all fronts because everybody is important and everybody’s a piece, whether they want to believe it or not.”
From a rough freshman start to becoming one of the nation’s toughest defenders, she exhibits how any athlete can rise above the net — both figuratively and literally.
For her story, Cos-Okpalla’s net was her mindset that was restricting her potential.
She didn’t believe in herself until she learned to communicate with herself. She learned that once you know the mind, you can train the mind. She rose above her net and came down as an athlete who comprehends the mindset designed for her own greatness.
Now, when she literally rises above the net to block swings, it serves as a metaphor for how she overcame her greatest weaknesses to create the reputation she now holds as a player.
But her story isn’t finished.
Not yet.
