After a tough loss to UCLA, the Terps hoped to bounce back with a win over the Wildcats this Saturday.
In five sets: 25-19,18-25, 25-18, 17-25, and 19-17, Maryland came through with a win in a competitive matchup.
“You’re watching these youngsters, who I know are the future of our program, and they’re just balling out right now. It’s kind of fun watching them grow up,” head coach Adam Hughes said.
Maryland started strong, opening up the scoring and going on a brief 4-0 run, which Northwestern fought back against with a 6-0 run.
Freshman outside hitter Ava Brown snapped the streak with an emphatic kill.
As the first set continued, the Terps and Wildcats went back and forth, point for point, until freshman outside hitter Brooklynne Brass helped the Terps separate themselves with a quick kill, opening up the Terps to go on a 6-0 run of their own, winning the set 25-19.
Many Terps had big nights, one being Brass, who had 19 kills, 46 total attacks, 18 digs, a solo block, two block assists, and a .413 hitting percentage.
“You’re gonna have your ups and downs…but at the same time, we’re gonna be hungry right now, we’re underdogs, and we’re gonna see what we can steal, I’m really proud of the group,” Hughes said.
In addition, senior middle blocker Eva Rohrbach had 18 kills, 27 total attacks, a solo block, three block assists, and a .556 hitting percentage.
Unfortunately, Maryland did not continue the second set with a hot star. Despite the best efforts of the Terps’ defense and regularly getting to their spots, the Wildcats’ raw power helped them push the ball past the block for a point several times throughout the second set.
Out of a timeout, Brown had a well-placed kill that seemed to spark a massive jolt of fight in the Terps, following it up with a hard-fought, hustle-filled point, and a four-to-zero run by Maryland to help cut the lead and rally a comeback.
Ava Brown had a good game as well, with 11 kills and 32 total attacks on the night.
Despite the rallying moment and an overall improvement in the second half of set two compared to the first, the Wildcats formidable wall upfront, coupled with their powerful swings, were too much for the Terps to bring it all the way back, with the set ending 25-18 Northwestern.
Another Terps player with a solid game was junior middle blocker Duru Gökçen, who had six kills, three solo blocks, and three block assists.
Maryland continued the passionate play of the second set into the third. While still a back-and-forth, the Terps had much more control than the previous set, conceding the lead only once in the entire set.
The Terps also cleaned up offensive mistakes that plagued them the first two sets, with only two attack errors in the third to the Wildcats’ seven.
Maryland held onto the lead for a majority of the third set, winning 25-18. A huge part of this win was the defensive solidity they matched with more focused, precise offense, with four total blocks to Northwestern’s zero.
Senior outside hitter Sydney Bryant added to the offensive ensemble this game with 13 kills, and 46 total attacks, constantly helping to put pressure on Northwestern and exploiting hard-to-block angles.
The fourth set was much of the same close, back-and-forth play we’d seen. Brass excitedly opened the set with three straight kills, which helped to electrify the audience.
Around halfway through, the Terps made some errors reminiscent of the first two sets that allowed the Wildcats to take the lead, and with how close these teams had been playing, it was hard for Maryland to recover, enabling Northwestern to hold onto it for the rest of the set.
The Wildcats took the early lead and for a moment it felt as if the Wildcats had outplayed the Terps when it really mattered. That was until Eva Rohrbach had a vicious kill to make it 10-13.
What followed were highlight plays from Brass and Rohrbach, as well as three consecutive blocks by the Terps to not only tie, but take the lead.
The final two points for the win were quite the fight, with neither team conceding any ground, and the Maryland group getting louder and louder whenever a Terp touched the ball.
Finally, a well-set-up kill from Ava Brown finished the game, 19-17.
“It’s kind of everything we work for; those are the moments that we’re grateful for,” defensive specialist Elayna Davidson said regarding the important, momentum-shifting moments throughout the game.
Davidson’s defensive performance helped anchor the Terps during close moments in the fifth set.
“I thought they’d play really hard; they’re hungry. They were looking at chances to win games, and they had a window, and I felt the pressure a little bit, and our kids handled it better than they did.” Hughes said.
