HOUSTON, Texas (KBTX) – After former Texas A&M volleyball standout Logan Lednicky ran to the center of the volleyball court, checking in to her first career professional volleyball game, she had little time to bask in the standing ovation she received from her hometown Houston crowd.
The ensuing point went in favor of her League One Volleyball Houston squad thanks to a block off of her hand.
The celebrations within Cypress’ Berry Center quickly shifted from Lednicky’s debut to the first professional point of her career, all in a whirlwind couple of minutes.
“I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face, just knowing that a lot of people have followed my journey from [Houston club team} Skyline to A&M to now and just really cool to see the support for me and at the rest of my team,” Lednicky said.
Thursday’s League One season opener in Houston was the first professional game for a pair of recently-departed Aggie graduates, Lednicky and Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, less than a month after claiming A&M’s first-ever volleyball national championship. The debutant event nearly overshadowed a 3-0 sweep by Cos-Okpalla’s League One Salt Lake squad in Houston.
While Thursday’s moment was sweet for the duo, it came with a serious case of whiplash. Both players have had to make the adjustment to professional volleyball in less than two weeks.
“We’re still ill the process of integration,” Cos-Okpalla said. “Obviously, from college to pro is a pretty big jump. So, just working day-by-day, getting 1% better every day.”
It’s a mentality that was instilled over the last three years by Aggie head coach Jamie Morrison, who was in attendance Thursday, alongside several current A&M volleyball players. Morrison spent most of the match just beyond the baselines of the court, shaking hands and chatting with officials from the professional league, which he helped develop prior to taking the job at A&M.
Watching two of his national-champion standouts take their first steps into the professional game was akin to being a proud parent, he said. But he knows the challenges both have already and will face moving forward.
“They’ve always played with people that are their age… all of the sudden you get to college and there’s this four-year age band and you have to be the best with 18 year olds going against 22 year olds,” Morrison said. “Now you’re a 23-year-old, going up against some 35-year-olds that have been playing this game for a really, really long time that have got a lot of cagey moves in them that are really good.”
That journey played out before Lednicky’s eyes Thursday.
The Sugar Land native grew up playing club volleyball in the greater Houston area. Current iterations of her Houston Skyline club filled the general admission seats of the Berry Center, just as she had grown up going to A&M games when she was young. She played several high school matches for George Ranch High School in the Berry Center. Directly behind her bench Thursday was a large contingent of friends, family and former A&M teammates waiting to watch the next evolution of her game.
“Obviously, a lot of anticipation throughout the day,” she said. “Was trying to figure out if it was nerves or not, but I think it’s just the build up, like an excitement. Coming out, watching the first serve, it kind of all just went away.”
Cos-Okpalla’s experience has been less familiar, but equally rewarding. She’s spent the last two weeks adjusting to a brand new city in the capital of Utah, while integrating into a new team.
“I didn’t think Salt Lake City was as big and beautiful of a city as it was. So, that was quite shocking to me. Being with the right team really helps me to transition easier and I think the women, they’ve just made it so homey already.”
Cos-Okpalla didn’t get her playing debut Thursday, but will have another opportunity Jan. 10 in Madison, Wis.
Lednicky finished the night with two kills and a block in limited action through all three sets. Morrison hopes its the continuation of standout careers that were forged in Aggieland.
“[I hope] That they grow, that they learn, that they get better, that they’re good teammates,” Morrison said. “That all the lessons we taught them when they were at Texas A&M, they’re applying them to the next level, making the people around them better.”
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