Ags swept out of Big D as No. 10 SMU hands No. 8 A&M first loss of 2025

Match #6: No. 10 Southern Methodist 3, No. 8 Texas A&M 0
S1: SMU, 25-20; S2: SMU, 25-14; S3: SMU, 25-19
Records: Texas A&M (5-1, 0-0), Southern Methodist (6-0, 0-0)
Box Score

The top-10 showdown between No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 10 SMU resulted in a shocking sweep by the relentless Mustangs at Moody Coliseum in Dallas on Tuesday night.

Indeed, the previously undefeated suffered their first loss of the year, 3-0.

“I was 100 percent surprised,” Texas A&M head coach Jamie Morrison said. “We weren’t doing some of the core tenets that we hold true to ourselves.”

Tuesday’s match marked the first top-10 matchup at Moody since 1957, as the Aggies earned their highest national ranking in program history after starting the season 5-0.

The Mustangs took charge at the beginning of the first set, starting with a kill and a service ace before two attack errors from Kyndal Stowers brought the score to 4-0.

After a powerful first kill from Logan Lednicky, the Aggies matched the Mustangs’ pace and brought it to an even score, 4-4. SMU fired back and kept a consistent 2-3 point advantage until the Aggies got their first lead of the night at 15-14.

However, the Mustangs quickly decimated that deficit, restoring their three-point lead before the Aggies called their first timeout. A&M’s hole extended to five, which prompted Morrison to call the Ags’ final timeout of the set.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

The Aggies committed four service errors in the first set, for a total of 15 in the match. 

A&M was not in sync, as their continuous errors outweighed the performances of the first set, resulting in a 25-20 win for the Mustangs.

The second stanza resumed with a high level of competitiveness between both programs. The score became neck-and-neck with both teams exchanging fiery kills and costly errors.

However, an attack error from Lednicky gave the Mustangs the momentum, taking a 15-12 lead before a media timeout.

The Aggies returned from the break with a miscommunication error as their play fell through, resulting in a five-point lead for SMU before Morrison tried to reset his team.

SMU’s momentum did not halt as the lead grew to 20-13, causing Lednicky, Ava Underwood and Maddie Waak to get subbed back in quickly. The veteran presence did not help as SMU extended this lead to 10 before a kill from Waak ended the run.

SMU dominated the second stanza, resulting in a 25-14 finish.

“I probably should’ve called a timeout really early in the second set because there were a couple of plays that were not indicative of who we are,” Morrison said. “We did talk about it later on in that set and in between the third. I thought our team did respond a little bit in the third, but it was too little too late.”

The third set began with a blazing kill from Ifenna Cos-Okpalla to light the newfound fire the Aggies appeared to be playing with. Nevertheless, the Mustangs once again ran away with their tight playing formation, resulting in another consistent lead throughout the frame.

Two shared blocks from Kirra Musgrove and Morgan Perkins and a kill from Stowers tied the set at 13-13, forcing a timeout by SMU.

The Aggies briefly kept up with the Mustangs before more out-of-sync errors gave SMU more distance on the scoreboard. SMU closed out the set, 25-19, to complete the sweep.

“We talk about taking it one point at a time,” Morrison said. “I’ve had teams come back from bigger deficits than that. You try to make sure you’re fixing some of the problems and try to get at least some momentum heading in the right direction.”

Though A&M showed glimpses of being a top-10 team during the beginning of the third set, it was not enough to keep up with the dependable Mustangs.

“The energy was there. The effort was there,” Underwood said. “Things weren't clicking, and sometimes that happens. You win some. You lose some. I think it was really good for us. I think that we’re hungry to get going tomorrow.”

Stowers led the team with seven kills total, followed by Lednicky’s six, which was one short of 1,300 for the All-American’s career.

Despite leading in kills, Stowers also led in attack errors with eight as A&M finished the match with more total errors than total kills — 35 and 29, respectively.

The critical flaws of the Aggies’ performance came down to simple errors and miscommunication. This exposed holes in A&M’s system, giving limited room for the stars — Lednicky and Cos-Okpalla — to shine.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

Texas A&M recorded a season-low hitting percentage of .070 against SMU on Tuesday night. 

“That’s not who we are,” Morrison said. “The biggest thing is we don’t have a chance to go home and practice who we are. We have to go out and do it on the court tomorrow against TCU, who are a really good volleyball team.” 

The Aggies say they won’t let this loss affect their morale in any shape or form. Instead, they see it as an opening to come back and play how they did in the first five matches of the season.

“We just gotta focus on tomorrow,” Underwood said. “We have a really good opportunity to bounce back against a really good team. TCU has been playing really well.

“We just have to get back to us. That was definitely not us, and I think everyone in this gym knows it. So just take a breath, get back to focusing on us, and go out tomorrow and compete.”

The Maroon & White will have another chance to prove their worth on Wednesday night when their tour of the DFW Metroplex rolls into Fort Worth for a 6:30 p.m. match with No. 15 TCU.