After being swept in two conference losses to No. 10 Purdue and No. 15 Indiana, the Terps hoped to bounce back with a win in their first conference home game of the season against Iowa. 

The Terps showed out for the home crowd with a five-set slugfest against the Hawkeyes, ending in a Maryland win with sets ending 25-20, 13-25, 25-22, 19-25 and 15-10.

“It just felt like another game,” head coach Adam Hughes said. “And yes, there’s environment…but it felt like we got to go back to doing what we do.”

The Terps played with an aggressive pace, displaying incredible athleticism and quick kills. 

Freshmen outside hitters Brooklynne Brass and Ava Brown anchored that speedy offense. Brass finished the game with a season-high 18 kills on 43 total attacks and nine digs, complementing Brown’s 18 kills, 35 total attacks and 7 digs. They were the team’s most reliable offensive players early in the game.

“She’s been in so many different roles…didn’t get a start on the first match, then we ended up using her, and she’s one of the most athletic defensive specialists I’ve ever seen,” Hughes said  And then when we got banged up, and we moved her around, and she’s just so versatile.”

Maryland started to slip in the second set. Despite the explosive first set, the Terps seemed to lose steam on both ends. 

The Hawkeyes’ sneaky tip-ins were consistently thwarted by the Terps’ defense in the first set, but Iowa’s shift to a more power-first offense made it hard for the Terps to keep up. That defensive decline, and seven attack errors to Iowa’s one, allowed the Hawkeyes to keep a comfortable lead for a majority of their second-set win of 25-13.

The Terps woke back up after a struggle-filled second set, coming out swinging in the third. 

Senior outside hitter Sydney Bryant really showed up for Maryland in the third set with crucial kills throughout sets three through five. 

With a nail-biter of a third set ending in a game-winning point from Brass, the Terps cleaned up a lot of the mistakes they made in the second set for a 25-22 win. 

To continue the tug-of-war that was this matchup, Iowa took the fourth set 25-19. Despite the Terps not being far off the Hawkeyes in most statistical categories, their biggest struggle was converting, with a 28.1% hitting percentage to Iowa’s 45.5%.

The Terps took home a win with a dominant final set ending 15-10, and several players going home with season highs.

“We’ve got a unique week…we’ve got the number one team in the country coming in two days, but this group never overlooked that…we were fully focused on Iowa, and I felt that through the locker room,” Hughes said 

It was Maryland’s first conference win this season as well as their first home conference win.