Maryland volleyball came out of a tough loss to Wisconsin only to face a humiliating defeat on Saturday.
Minnesota took advantage of every opportunity.
In a swift three-set match, scoring 25-9, 25-18 and 25-17, the Terps faced early challenges they could not bounce back from.
The Gophers quickly established their dominance in play, with the first set leading by over 15 points and going off an eight-point run early on.
“I’m not sure we’re a top 10 team, but I didn’t see a group that was fearful. And as a leader of the program, I just want a group that’s going to fight,” Maryland head coach Adam Hughes said.
Where the Terps seemed to struggle most was in their serve-receive. With seven reception errors, it became difficult for setter Sara Toth to set up a successful, strong offense attack. While Maryland was struggling to put up strong passes, they were able to put up four aces to snag a few points.
When the Terps were able to set up a play, the Minnesota blockers put on a show shutting down Terp attacks. Timing up perfectly with slides from Maryland’s middle blocker Eva Rohrbach, it was difficult to run that play for some points. Maryland racked up a mere four total blocks compared to the eight blocks from Minnesota.
Throughout the match, the Terrapins were hitting at .059 compared to the .451 of Minnesota. What hurt the number most was the lack of successful attacks from Maryland in the first set, with 30 attack attempts only landing three kills.
The kills from the Gophers were not only strong swings from their hitters, but also strategically placed tips. The Terps struggled with tips to the doughnut and saw many balls drop in the middle of the team to lose points.
A huge component to the Maryland hitting percentage being a positive instead of a negative number overall was senior outside hitter Sydney Bryant and freshman Ava Brown.
Brown again proved herself to be a freshman incredibly useful for the Terps and acted cool under stressful plays and despite large gaps in the score. She picked up five kills, hitting at .111 percent.
Bryant led the Terps with 11 kills and was able to do so by aggressively placing the ball. By swinging around the block, Bryant showed versatility by putting down shots cross-court and down the line.
Another player who stood out and helped the Terps was freshman outside hitter Marlee Sivak. With five kills and hitting at a .273 percentage, she was able to help the Terrapins stay with the Gophers in the third set.
“I saw a lot of fight, and I saw a lot of youngsters gain a lot of confidence, and we just continue to move in the right direction,” Hughes said.
The Terps played more in their groove, staying close with the Gophers in the last set, with 12 kills to their 13 kills. However, it was not enough to pull away and try for a fourth set, ending the match in a clean sweep.
“Obviously, every time we’re trying to see if we can get an upset, but at the same time, we’re continuing to improve, and we’re doing it in a big environment on the road,” Hughes said. “And now it’s time to regroup and get ready for another top 25 road game.”
