Maryland Volleyball continued its struggles in conference play, falling to Illinois 3-0, dropping their conference record to 0-5.
For the second time this year, Illinois and Maryland faced off. Illinois won the first game in September, three sets to one. The game marked both team’s first conference game. The Illini offense was on full display in that first matchup outkilling the Terps 55-37, despite a great Maryland defense producing 12 blocks.
Since that late September contest, the Illini have gone 1-2 in Big Ten, losing their last two matches to No. 5 ranked Purdue and No. 8 ranked Wisconsin.
The Terps have continued to struggle in the Big Ten, going 0-3 in conference play since their first match at Illinois. The Terps are coming off a tough 3-1 loss to No. 3 ranked Nebraska.
The Terps started the first set by scoring the first two. The set would be a close contest from there, with the lead changing hands five times. Illinois took control in the set due to a 5-0 scoring run that gave them an eight-point lead. Illinois went on to win the set, 25-15.
Despite the set loss, Rainelle Jones made Maryland history, becoming the all-time total blocks leader in program history. Jones passed Rachel Wagener in the record books and now sits atop the leaderboard with 654 blocks and growing.
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing was not to focus too much on blocking and let it happen naturally. I know my teammates, they do a great job when it comes to pairing blocking with me, so hopefully, they can help me out with that,” said Jones.
Head coach Adam Hughes said experiencing Jones’ incredible moment was a great experience.
“It’s cool for me to see someone who I’ve known for a long time and someone who’s local, who has Maryland ties, obviously with her dad being a basketball legend her as well. Now she’s going to go down in the record books, and I think it’s going to be a really hard number for anybody to catch,” said Hughes.
The second set started in a similar way for the Terps jumping out to an early lead. Maryland gained much-needed separation in the middle of the set when they scored five straight to earn a five-point lead.
The Fighting Illini made that lead evaporate as they battled back to tie the set at 15-15. Illinois only grew the lead from there. The Terps fought themselves back in the match via a 4-0 scoring run to tie the set at 20.
After a challenge awarded a point to Illinois, the Illini earned four of the last six points to win the set, 25-22.
After intermission, it appeared the Terps would continue their third set dominance. Back-to-back Laila Ivey’s kills put the Terps ahead early. That lead continued to grow until the Illini tied the set at 17.
From that point, the set became extremely close, with both teams trading points. Illinois held a one-point lead late in the set that would grow to two leading to an Illinois 25-23 set win.
“I think it’s execution more than it’s really energy., I mean, realistically, in all three sets, we got off to pretty solid leads and got out running, and then the deflation happens,” Hughes said.
Maryland had trouble handling Illinois outside hitter Raina Terry, who accumulated 18 kills in the match. Terry, in her two games versus Maryland, has totaled 38 kills.
“The struggle with [Raina Terry] at times is that you might be able to take two of three things away, but you’re not going be able to get all three. I thought we were below par of where we wanted to be,” said Hughes.
Maryland is still searching for its first conference win of the season as they head to New Jersey to take on a 7-10 Rutgers squad. Rutgers’ lone Big Ten in came against Michigan State, a team Maryland lost to in five sets.
