The rivalry is officially back.

On Friday night, Texas A&M (9-2, 0-1) hosted arch-rival and defending champion No. 8 Texas (6-3, 1-0) in the first game of conference play.

To the dismay of Reed Arena's record 9,236, the visiting Longhorns won the opening game of the Lone Star Showdown in four sets (25-16, 14-25, 25-23, 25-20).

Not only was it the largest crowd in the program's history, but it was also the largest crowd ever for a regular-season volleyball game in the state of Texas.

“I don’t know if I can thank the 12th man enough for his showing up and his performance,” head coach Jamie Morrison said. “I hope they enjoyed it and I hope they come back.”

Simply put, Reed was an electrical factory.

And the crowd support wasn't the only positive for the Maroon & White, even in defeat.

Fourth-generation Aggie Logan Lednicky was both teams' favorite with 17 kills, while Ava Underwood had a match-high 18 digs. Maddie Waak provided 40 assists.

In fact, the final results on the evening represented a much closer battle than the four-set result would suggest. Texas recorded 50 total kills to A&M's 45, while the Aggies attacked by a margin of .185 to Texas' .175. A&M recorded 14 blocks compared to Texas' five.

However, Texas recorded six aces to A&M's four as the Aggies committed three more service errors than the Longhorns.

Kaylen Kruse, TexAgs

Friday's 17-kill effort marks the ninth time in 11 games this season that Logan Lednicky has recorded 15 or more kills.

Texas physically dominated the opening set with a batting average of .323 to A&M's dismal .057. A&M also had an incredible nine offensive errors.

The Aggies trailed by as many as nine, as the Longhorns never trailed, and won 25-16.

The second one, however, was a completely different story.

A&M rebounded significantly and took a 25-14 win. The Ags were more efficient and flipped the script on Texas with much more physical play.

After an attack error early in the set by Maddie Waak, the Aggies caught fire as A&M responded by scoring six straight points and taking a 6-1 lead on a kill from Logan Lednicky.

Just like Texas in the opening game, A&M never cooled down. The Aggies were incredibly dominant, especially on defense. Texas hit at a -.079 clip and the Aggies had six blocks ahead of the Longhorns.

A&M's tough play kept Texas on its heels throughout, as the Longhorns committed 10 offensive errors.

Surprisingly, the Aggies only had 12 kills, one more than in the first set.

“A loss is not ideal, but I think a lot of good came out of this game,” Underwood said. “It’s still early in the season so we still have a lot more in us.”

The third set was initially an absolute battle between the two teams, with neither team gaining more than a point lead until A&M scored 9-7.

There were a total of ten draws until the score was 11:11. Texas then took control by capitalizing on A&M's offensive errors to launch a 6-0 run, increasing the score to 17-11.

After a well-timed timeout by Morrison, A&M fought back with ferocity. After they had to accept a deficit of 20:15, they were able to equalize it with 22:22.

But the comeback wasn't enough, as the Longhorns won the set 25:23.

The ferocity continued in the fourth round, which was a tough battle.

Another back-and-forth game once again ensured a fair tie, but as in the third set, the Longhorns went on a run and took an 18-14 lead after a 13-13 deadlock.

The Aggies refused to roll over and made things interesting, getting to 22-20 before Texas won the set and the match with a 25-20 win.

On Friday the Ags suffered their first home defeat of the year, and they are now 0-2 against ranked opponents.

But the fight gives cause for optimism.

“We’re close,” Morrison said. “There's a really fine line and I don't want to get to the point where we cross it. We remain aggressive. This is who we are.”

Next, the Aggies will look to regroup on Sunday against Missouri. First serve at Reed Arena is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT.