KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Logan Lednicky had 11 kills, Maddie Waak had 29 assists and Texas A&M won its first NCAA volleyball championship, sweeping Kentucky 3-0 on Sunday.
The Aggies (29-4) accomplished the rare feat of defeating three No. 1 seeds. They defeated Nebraska and Pittsburgh earlier in the tournament. They did not drop a set in the Final Four.
At 24-18 in the third set, Kentucky held off a couple of match points before the Aggies took advantage of a free ball and Cos-Okpalla delivered the championship point, crushing a set from Waak out of the middle.
Kyndal Stowers finished with 10 kills and hit .304. Cos-Okpalla added eight kills, hitting .235 and Lednicky hit .250.
Eva Hudson had a match-high 13 kills for Kentucky and Kassie O’Brien had 34 assists.
The Aggies hit .257 as a team, compared to Kentucky’s .148.
Set scores were 26-24, 25-15, 25-20.
The Aggies trailed throughout the first set until they tied it at 20-all and also saved a set point to tie it at 24. The Aggies took their first lead at 25-24 on an attack error by Kentucky’s Brooklyn DeLeye, her fifth of the set. Stowers finished off the 26-24 first-set win for the Aggies with a tip off the Kentucky block.
