By: Christian Andriolas
After sweeping Rutgers for the second time this season on Friday, Maryland volleyball returned home for Senior Day on Xfinity Center’s main court.
No. 2 Nebraska (29-2, 19-1 B1G) defeated Maryland (14-17, 5-15 B1G), 3-1, clinching a share of the Big Ten championship for the fifth time in school history.
The Terps played in Xfinity Center’s main gym for the first time since 2019, drawing a record attendance of 13,071 fans. The record crowd got what they came for in set one, with the Terps winning 27-25.
Samantha Schnitta got the Terps’ first point with a kill and then the Terps dropped two straight to the Cornhuskers. Katie Scherer answered the run with her first kill. And — after being down 5-3 — the Terps tied it with a kill from Sydney Dowler and a service ace by Jonna Spohn.
Both teams continued to trade points, but Nebraska sparked a four point scoring run that put them ahead 15-10, forcing a Maryland timeout.
Maryland came out of the timeout strong, scoring three straight points eventually building that into a 6-1 scoring run that tied the score at 16.
Nebraska answered with a 5-1 run and the Terps fought right back with a 3-0 run fueled by hitting errors by Nebraska, getting them within one.
After trailing 23-21, another 3-0 Maryland run gave Maryland a chance to close out the match. Both teams continued to trade points, but a Nebraska service error followed by an attack error gave the Terps the set one victory.
“They gave us a couple of errors and opened up the window for us to try to take advantage,” head coach Adam Hughes said.
Nebraska came out inspired in set two, taking an early 6-1 lead. Schnitta answered with two kills to bring the Terps within three, but Nebraska continued to dominate, taking a seven-point lead, 13-6.
The Cornhuskers extended their run to 8-0 ballooning their lead to 19-6.
Despite being down big, Maryland didn’t surrender, scoring five of the following seven points to force a Nebraska timeout.
Maryland continued to match Nebraska, but their run occurred too late and the Cornhuskers closed out the set winning by 11.
Set three started similarly to set two.
Maryland opened the set with a point, but Nebraska answered with a 6-0 run. The Terps responded with back-to-back kills followed by a 5-1 Cornhuskers run to extend the lead to seven.
Nebraska continued its dominance throughout the set beating the Terps, 25-8, in the third set.
The fourth set started with a continuation of Nebraska’s run. The Cornhuskers took a 4-0 lead, that Maryland answered with a point. The Terps fell behind, 6-1, for the third straight set.
The Cornhuskers’ lead continued to grow throughout the set, eventually winning 25-12.
“We really couldn’t get them out of system after [set] one,” said Hughes. “Then we couldn’t get an offensive rhythm going.”
Maryland’s season ended with the loss. The Terps finished the season 5-15 in conference play, following three consecutive seasons where they finished the conference slate with seven wins.
Despite the disappointing season, Hughes said he was proud of what this senior class accomplished for the program and he’s excited for the team’s future.
“Three successful seasons in a row, we’re a little down this year, but I love that this is a down year,” said Hughes. “They talked in the locker room and said we got it back to a place where the youngsters have to take the torch now, and I’m pretty excited about the future.”
