In an astounding pancake save on serve-receive in the second set, Maryland volleyball’s Raina Chwialkowski got a solid pass to set up a play. However, Michigan shut it down immediately with a block.
This was not a unique sequence of events.
Maryland and Michigan went toe-to-toe throughout the match in kills, assists and service errors. However, the Terps lost the battle at the net.
With six blocks compared to Michigan’s 13, it was hard to deny the dominance the Wolverines showed at the net. The Terps fell by committing 22 attack errors throughout the match.
In their Senior Night and last match in the Stephen M. Schanwald Pavilion, the Terps lost to the Wolverines, 3-1.
“I thought they were a very offensive team coming in. I think they’re third in kills per set, and we knew that was going to be a bit of a challenge. But they were scoring on some things that I thought we missed some assignments and we’re kind of hesitating a little bit and challenged the group in game three to respond defensively,” head coach Adam Hughes said.
In the first set, the pattern began. In whatever joust they faced, the Wolverines seemed to have stronger hands to win the block and stop any tip and possible kill that came their way.
This roadblock proved to be difficult for the Terps and their own mistakes led to their downfall; the Terps matched 15 kills, but with the lost battles at the net it was four attack errors that took them down in the first set, 22-25.
Maryland struggled throughout the first set with long serves, recording three service errors.
This pattern started to improve in the third set, when the first solo block from Maryland came from Ioanna Dimitriou. Ava Brown also started to find her footing with the blocks, and helped Dimitriou get a block to earn point 21 in the third.
The script also seemed to flip for attack errors from the Terps, with Michigan making more errors at the net during this set with six total to the Terps’ five.
The crowd of 1,270 erupted as Ava Brown got the kill in the fourth set for Maryland to take the lead in the fourth set, 25-24.
While the fourth set was a battle throughout, the Terps suffered again from five blocks from Michigan and seven attack errors, earning a final set score of 28-26.
Brown stole the show in the third set, with three kills to help seal the deal for the third-set victory. Overall, she recorded 16 kills and 1.5 blocks, solidifying herself as a force to be reckoned with.
Another standout was freshman Marlee Sivak. Following the USC game on Nov. 5, where she recorded 16 kills coming off the bench for the Terps, Sivak started tonight against the Wolverines. And she did not disappoint.
“She’s always been a bit of a spark for us, and she came off a great match, and so we wanted to ride it out and see how far it could go,” Hughes said.
With 15 kills and two aces, she ensured the future of the team is bright.
Before the match, graduate student Haley Melby and seniors Sydney Bryant, Eva Rohrbach, Annika Sokol and Alex McGillivray were recognized during Senior Night.
“So yeah, I was gutted. It stings a little bit just for the seniors. A great crowd, just great embodiment of ‘Those guys got no quit,’ and I didn’t think we quit, but they made a couple plays late, and unfortunately, we’re on the opposite end of what I wanted,” Hughes said.
In a close match such as this one, Hughes said in order to pull ahead, the Terps need to work on their defensive skills.
“We know we’re playing really good ball right now, so we still got three matches left. And like I said, we’ve got a lot of goals in front of us, and I know this team will show up on Monday for practice,” Hughes said.
