By Christian Andriolas
After a promising performance in a loss against Penn State, Maryland made a statement at home Saturday against Rutgers.
The Terps dominated the Scarlet Knights — earning their first Big Ten win — beating Rutgers via a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-20, 25-19).
Maryland dominated on the service line — with ten service aces compared to four service errors — while Rutgers was plagued by mistakes — three service aces compared to ten service errors.
“I thought everyone was chipping in,” head coach Adam Hughes said. “We’re always trying to find this balance of some people being aggressive, [and] some people are [in] more spot locations.”
Sydney Bryant played a great game once again, finishing with a team-leading 13 kills — her third straight game with ten or more.
“Just reminding myself that I am good enough,” Bryant said. “I’m here for a reason… [it’s ] just giving myself that boost of confidence.”
Maryland jumped out to a lead in set one but again struggled to close out the Scarlet Knights. The Terps led 23-15, but Rutgers went on a run, pulling within two.
With a chance to get within one, Rutgers had one of many untimely service errors, giving the Terps a set one victory.
“I thought we let Rutgers out of a few situations… so it’s a little bit of frustration there… [but] I thought we did a good job just not panicking in that scenario,” said Hughes.
Set two was closer throughout, with both teams failing to gain a substantial lead. Pin hitter Samantha Schnitta had five service aces in the game, landing two in a row to give Maryland a four-point lead and force a Rutgers timeout.
Schnitta’s serving prowess helped spark the Terps as they closed out the set with a kill by fifth-year outside hitter Sam Csire — one of her eight on the night.
The third set was back and forth until the Terps started to pull away late. Maryland’s lead grew as they closed out the set 25-20, winning its first conference game this season.
“We know this conference is a grind”, said Hughes. “I thought [our] attention to detail was just as good playing Rutgers, so that is a thing we have to do for the next eight weeks.”
Maryland will go on the road next weekend to face two ranked opponents. On Friday, the Terps will face No. 7 Wisconsin, followed by a quick turnaround with No. 12 Minnesota on Saturday.
