Maryland moved quickly to defeat Maryland Eastern Shore in their home opener.

With fast-paced plays and large leads, the Terps defeated the Hawks.

The Terps won in three straight sets with a near 10-point lead in each (25-15, 25-16, 25-16). 

At home, the Terps acted quickly in each set, looked strong and communicated well with each other.

Defense showed its prowess this afternoon, with an impressive performance from Raina Chwialkowski, the freshman libero. 

“I thought Raina is very steady, very calm for such a young player. You know, it’s pretty impressive,” head coach Adam Hughes said.

Along with strong defense, the Terps ran fast offensive plays that were lethal to the Hawks. 

Multiple kills in early plays from the middle blocker Duru Gökçen were a display of power and communication between her and the setter Sara Toth. 

Another standout was the performance from Haley Melby, who had many aces and killed the Hawks from all around the court. 

At the start of the first set, the Terps set the tone of the match with kills from Sydney Bryant and Gökçen.

Throughout the first set, serve-receive on the Terps’ end looked strong and set the stage for a smooth play to get points quickly.

The Terps came in hot in the second set, starting an early 6-0 lead that grew as the game continued. 

To try and combat the strong defense from the Terps, the Hawks began to tip and hit over the block. However, the Terps’ coverage at the net and lack of hesitation in getting the balls hit to holes made this a failed attempt by the Hawks.

Freshman Ava Brown used the Hawks’ block for the winning point of the second set to win 25-16.

The third set seemed like it would be a closer game, with the teams staying close to each other early on.  To be a closer game, with the Hawks earning their points off the Terps’ hands at the net.

Maryland Eastern Shore began earning points off the Terps’ hands at the net; however, the Terps pulled ahead quickly to end the set, 25-16.

Looking ahead to their game Monday against George Mason, Hughes said the team is looking to be cleaner than they were today. 

“The big thing for us is that this early in the season we’ve got some things that we’re still trying to focus on ourselves,” Hughes said.