Sports
Logan Lednicky caps dream with volleyball title at Texas A&M
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A few days before the NCAA women’s volleyball national championship, Texas A&M opposite hitter Logan Lednicky posted an old family video on her Instagram account. Lednicky is maybe 5 or 6 years old in the video, wearing a maroon A&M shirt and doing cartwheels on the grass at Kyle Field, A&M’s football stadium. “Say ‘Gig ‘Em, Aggies,'” her mom, Leigh Lednicky, implores her, and little Logan walks up to the camera, smiles and gives a thumbs-up.
Under the video, Lednicky wrote that she is living in that little Aggie’s “answered prayers.”
Her dad, Kyle, was a long snapper for the Texas A&M football team in the 1990s, and her mom worked in the football office. She chose Texas A&M because she always dreamed of being a fourth-generation Aggie, but that was only part of it. She wanted to help build a middling volleyball program into a powerhouse.
Lednicky went beyond that little girl’s dreams Sunday, swatting 11 kills to lead Texas A&M to a sweep over No. 1 seed Kentucky for the program’s first national title. The senior from Sugar Land, Texas, was a linchpin in the Aggies’ improbable December postseason run, helping her team knock off three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.
In the final four matches of her career, when it mattered most, Lednicky amassed 69 total kills, a team high. She’s one of four seniors who have been with the program from the beginning — they went 13-16 as freshmen — and set the tone for the historic season. The past and present swirled through that class Sunday. With the Aggies cruising in the final set, coach Jamie Morrison high-fived Lednicky, and hung on to her hand.
“I think she had that moment where, ‘This might be the last four points of my college career,'” Morrison said. “I think she actually started getting a little teary on the court. I was like, ‘Oh, no, did I just ruin everything?’ No, it means the world.
“There was a group of them here from the beginning that said, ‘I want to be a part of this, I want to build this program.’ … I don’t think they were envisioning a national championship by the time they were done. I think when we were selling what we were doing, it was building something they could come back to in the future and be really, really proud they helped build.”
It was Lednicky who helped save the season on Dec. 13 in the Sweet 16, when the Aggies were down two sets to Louisville. She hammered a team-high 20 kills in a reverse sweep, and afterward, Lednicky mentioned a random note that someone left on the scorer’s table as her team was teetering toward elimination.
The note said, “Something great is about to happen.”
She has always been the charismatic optimist — the one who keeps things loose. Teammates call her everything from their “ride-or-die” to a best friend.
She has been a recruiter. When Morgan Perkins hit the transfer portal after her freshman season at Oklahoma three years ago, her first text came from Lednicky, an old club teammate. Perkins said the text was something along the lines of, “Hey, Mo-Mo, I see you’re in the portal …”
Lednicky, along with sophomore Kyndal Stowers, helped pull A&M together when the Wildcats sprinted out to a 15-9 lead in the first set. The Aggies later said they dealt with some jitters at the start of the match, but it was short-lived. Lednicky’s kill drew A&M within one, and then she teamed up with Perkins for a block that tied the game. Stowers’ kill completed the rally and gave the Aggies the set, 26-24.
From there, the Aggies dominated. They took a commanding 19-8 lead in the second and pulled away in the third with a Lednicky kill that made it 18-11.
“I was pretty emotional all day today,” Lednicky said, “just knowing that no matter the outcome of this game, it would be my last getting to represent A&M on my chest. Being able to do this with these girls — end like this, I just can’t even believe it.
“I’m so happy I get to carry this with me through the rest of my life and remember all the memories with these girls.”
In the waning moments of the match, a corner of the arena chanted, “Why not us?” It became a slogan for the Aggies in the postseason, during the match against Louisville. Late Sunday, Lednicky gave a shoutout to her boyfriend and teammate Ava Underwood’s boyfriend for coining it for the Aggies at a concession stand in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“We kind of took it and ran with it,” she said. “We started saying it. Ava and Addi (Applegate) wrote it on their shoe. Now it’s on a T-shirt somehow. Shout out to them.
“But, I mean, it’s true. It’s a testament to the hard work this program has put in all year long, staff, players. That’s such a great statement. ‘Why not us’ has turned into, ‘It is us’. I think with that dawg mentality all season long, all tournament long, we knew it was going to be us.”
Morrison, who came to A&M in December 2022 and overhauled the program’s culture, figured it would take at least five years to win it all. He credited the rapid ascent to his team’s work ethic.
Kyle Lednicky waited for his daughter after the match, marveling over how she and her teammates set out to change a program and did it so quickly, and dramatically. He said former A&M football coach R.C. Slocum texted her Sunday morning and wished her luck.
“That was pretty cool,” Kyle Lednicky said.
Of course he always hoped his daughter would go to his alma mater, but he says he never put pressure on her. Maybe it was osmosis, that all those football games, and that maroon clothing, would eventually seep into her consciousness, and her heart. It didn’t matter. That fourth-generation Aggie is now a first-generation champion.
Kyle Lednicky saw his daughter’s Instagram post Thursday, and it brought back a flood of memories.
“I had to put it away,” he said, “because I got teary-eyed when I was looking at it.”
Pakistan left-arm spinner Noman Ali completed 100 Test wickets, becoming the oldest player in history to reach the milestone during the first Test against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
He claimed the milestone by dismissing Mehidy Hasan Miraz, joining an elite group of Pakistan bowlers and becoming the ninth spinner and 20th overall to achieve the feat.
The left-arm spinner also picked up the crucial wickets of Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and Taijul Islam.
At 39 years and 217 days, Noman became the oldest player in Test history to reach the 100-wicket milestone. He surpassed former England spinner Bobby Peel, who reached the mark in 1896 at the age of 39 years and 180 days.
The 39-year-old also reached another landmark by becoming the joint fourth-fastest Pakistan bowler to claim 100 Test wickets, achieving the feat in his 22nd Test match.
England great George Lohmann holds the world record for the fastest to 100 Test wickets, having reached the milestone in just 16 matches, while several Pakistan bowlers also feature among the quickest to the landmark.
Oldest players to reach 100 Test wickets
- Noman Ali (Pakistan) – 39y 217d
- Bobby Peel (England) – 39y 180d
- Ray Illingworth (England) – 39y 30d
- Clarrie Grimmett (Australia) – 39y 22d
- Sydney Barnes (England) – 38y 310d
Fastest Pakistani bowlers to 100 Test wickets
- Yasir Shah – 17 matches
- Saeed Ajmal – 19 matches
- Waqar Younis – 20 matches
- Mohammad Asif – 20 matches
- Noman Ali – 22 matches*
- Fazal Mahmood – 22 matches
- Saqlain Mushtaq – 23 matches
Sports
Craig Morton, quarterback who led the Broncos to their first Super Bowl appearance, dead at 83
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Former Denver Broncos quarterback Craig Morton, who was inducted into the team’s Ring of Fame, died on Saturday. He was 83.
Morton was critical in helping the Broncos reach their first-ever playoff appearance, ultimately getting them to Super Bowl XII during the 1977 campaign.
After going 12-2 during the season, and getting wins in the playoffs over the Pittsburgh Steelers and then-Oakland Raiders, Morton was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Year.
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Denver Broncos quarterback Craig Morton stands on the sidelines with both hands on his hips. (GETTY)
“Craig Morton is unbelievable,” fellow Ring of Famer Haven Moses said after the Broncos won the AFC Championship in 1978, per the New York Times. “To me, he’s the most valuable player in the National Football League.”
Morton also won Sporting News Player of the Year, the PFWA Comeback Player of the Year and the NFL UPI MVP in 1977.
“We are saddened to learn of the passing of #BroncosROF quarterback Craig Morton, who died on Saturday at the age of 83,” the Broncos posted on social media.
Morton also led the Broncos to two different division titles and three playoff berths during his six seasons with the franchise. He finished his career in Denver with 11,895 passing yards, which marked the most in franchise history at the time.
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Quarterback Craig Morton #7 of the Denver Broncos drops back to pass during an NFL game at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colo., circa 1978. Morton played for the Broncos from 1977 to 1982. (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)
Morton also led the Broncos with pass attempts (1,594) and completions (907). But Morton’s time with the Broncos was the latter half of his NFL career.
He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1965, the fifth overall pick out of Cal. Morton spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Cowboys, where he threw for 10,279 yards with 80 touchdowns and 73 interceptions. He went 32-14-1 in his time with Dallas.
Then, during the 1974 season, Morton was moved to the New York Giants, a division rival of the Cowboys. He went 1-6 in his first seven starts that year and wouldn’t find much success in New York across three seasons.
Quarterback Craig Morton #7 of the Denver Broncos drops back to pass during an NFL game at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colo., circa 1978. Morton played for the Broncos from 1977 to 1982. (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)
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For his career, Morton threw for 27,908 yards with 183 touchdowns. He owned an 81-62-1 record across 207 games.
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Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza’s year couldn’t have been more perfect.
He led his Hoosiers to an unblemished 16-0 season, captured the national championship in historic fashion and won the 2025 Heisman before being selected first in the 2026 NFL Draft by the Raiders.
Now that the path is clear for a new athlete to leave NYC in December holding the Heisman, who will it be?
Here are the way-too-early odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 5.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
2026 Heisman Trophy Winner
CJ Carr (Notre Dame): +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Arch Manning (Texas): +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Julian Sayin (Ohio State): +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Dante Moore (Oregon): +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss): +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)
Josh Hoover (TCU): +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Darian Mensah (Miami, FL): +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State): +1300 (bet $10 to win $140 total)
Gunner Stockton (Georgia): +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Sam Leavitt (Arizona State): +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Marcel Reed (Texas A&M): +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Jayden Maiava (USC): +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
John Mateer (Oklahoma): +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Here’s more on a few of the names on the 2026 Heisman oddsboard:
The Favorites: Carr and Manning are tied at +750 to win the Heisman Trophy at the end of the 2026 regular season. And the latter is no stranger to Heisman talk. He opened as the favorite for the 2025 Heisman at several books and right before the season kicked off, bettors were hammering Manning’s futures. The excitement over Manning was short-lived once his Longhorns went 4-2 to begin the season. If he is at least named a finalist, he would follow in the footsteps of his uncles and his grandfather, as both Peyton and Eli Manning, and their dad Archie, were Heisman finalists during their college careers.
Arch Manning is an early favorite to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy.
Ones to Watch: Ohio State teammates Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin are two players to watch for next season’s Heisman — especially because they were both in the conversation to win the award most of 2025. Sayin, in fact, was a Heisman finalist and finished fourth in the race with eight first-place votes. Smith didn’t make the trip to New York but finished sixth in the tally. FOX Sports college football writer RJ Young projects that both Smith and Sayin — as well as Manning — will be in the running in 2026.
Ohio State’s Julian Sayin could make another trip to NYC — but this time as the winner.
Heisman in Troy?: Could Maiava bring the hardware back to SC from NYC? Based on the early odds, he could have at least a slight chance. If the Trojans’ QB wins the most coveted individual award in college football, he’d be the first USC player since Caleb Williams (2022) to do so. Maiava finished the 2025 season with 3,711 passing yards and 24 touchdowns, as his squad ended the year with a 9-4 record.
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