If the SEC Tournament were a bank vault, the Aggies would be the bandits.
For the first time since 2005, the SEC Volleyball Tournament has officially reopened. And for No. 6-ranked Texas A&M, the Aggies arrive in Savannah, Georgia, as a relentless force ready to steal the title.
At 22-3 overall and 14-1 in conference play, the Aggies ended the regular season with their best finish since 1984 and earned the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.
“Right now, I think we’re peaking,” head coach Jamie Morrison said. “Everything is starting to come together in the right way. We’re a really dangerous team, especially if we play like we have in the last five matches.”
The Aggies, winners of 10 straight, will open their postseason on Sunday against No. 15 seed Vanderbilt (9-17, 3-12) in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals at 4 p.m. CT.
Vanderbilt has looked like a completely different team since arriving in Savannah.
On Friday night, the Commodores swept Mississippi State with a .429 hitting percentage and held the Bulldogs to a .010 hitting percentage. On Saturday, they dispatched No. 7 seed Georgia in four sets.
While that may sound alarming, if the Aggies play with the same composure they did when they swept the Commodores in September, then it should be no problem.
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla is among the four Aggies who earned First Team All-SEC honors. She leads the SEC in individual hitting percentage and total blocks. She also set a single-season conference record with five SEC Defensive Player of the Week awards.
The others, Logan Lednicky, Kyndal Stowers and Maddie Waak, highlight the explosive unit that A&M has become.
Lednicky, a now four-time All-SEC honoree, continues her dominant march through the A&M record books. With 320 kills and an effective .312 hitting percentage this season, she enters the postseason as one of the 14 semifinalists for AVCA Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, Stowers has enhanced A&M’s sharp attack since she arrived. Without her consistent grit and determination, it's unclear whether the Aggies would be in their current position today.
Then there’s Waak, whom the entire offense orbits around. The national leader in assists per set is the central component of the Aggies’ strategic playing style, which led them through the phenomenal conference run.
“We’re an extremely balanced team,” Morrison said. “Everyone is an option. Everyone is a threat.”
But the strategy for the SEC Tournament might be slightly different.
The tight schedule creates an unusual level of tension among the players and coaches. For Morrison, balance will be the key.
“How we best set ourselves up for the NCAA Tournament is the priority,” Morrison said. “I don’t want to break us in half to make sure we win this, but I also do want to go win this.
“If we were to win all three, then there’s a chance that we host four matches in the NCAA Tournament, so it’s a balancing of all those things.”
The balance on the surface is the possibility of playing three matches in three days with no rest, while still preparing for the primary goal.
However, the core balance is a little different.
This week is about the pursuit of an SEC title, while preserving a program meant for more. A team built for more.
And to Morrison, the answer lies in staying mentally anchored.
“It’s about being true to the things you think are important and make the team what it is,” he said. “When things seem difficult or unmotivated, go back to those things. If we stay true, good things will happen.”
The Maroon & White begin what they hope will be a three-day SEC title chase on Sunday.
