By: Christian Andriolas
Maryland vs. No. 11 Purdue
COLLEGE PARK, MD – Maryland volleyball returned home for a weekend of back-to-back conference matchups. Its first game was against No. 11 Purdue on Friday.
Despite keeping every set close, the Terps were swept by Purdue (25-23, 25-20, 25-20), as they dropped their seventh match in a row.
Purdue (17-5, 8-3 Big Ten) clung to a slight lead throughout a tight first set. The Terps gained momentum after evening the contest at 19, but then committed a service error. Maryland (10-12, 1-10 Big Ten) allowed an ace on the following serve because of a miscommunication on the back end.
Late in the set, graduate pin hitter Samantha Schnitta drew the Terps within one score – 24-23 – thanks to one of her nine kills in the match.
The Terps had another chance to fix their late-set struggles but once again fell short after a joint block attempt deflected out of bounds. Purdue won the set victory, 25-23.
Maryland was without season-long starter Sydney Bryant on Friday, which forced to adjust early on.
“Game one, we were all trying to figure out who was where and what rotations were gonna look like,” coach Adam Hughes said. “I thought they handled that pretty well and got themselves in a match.”
After falling down early in set two, Maryland came back with a 5-0 run to tie the game at eleven, electrifying the crowd and forcing a Biolermaker’s timeout.
Maryland took its first lead of the set after both teams went back and forth at the net. The ball found fifth year senior Sydney Dowler, who ended the rally with a spike to an empty Purdue back corner.
However, Purdue opened up a lead with a 6-0 scoring run – pushing the score to 18-13.
Freshman Katherine Scherer kept the Terps alive with a kill to cut the deficit to three. It was one of Scherer’s career-high seven kills in an increased role for the evening.
“I thought she handled herself really well … I thought the team rallied [around her],” Hughes said.
Both teams played even volleyball the rest of the way. Purdue rode their narrow lead and won the set, 25-20.
Both teams traded points early in the third set, as neither gained a lead larger than two points. With Purdue leading 14-13, the Terps won a long rally which seemed to sway momentum in their direction.
The teams continued trading blows, but one of Maryland’s strong suits all season, service aces, went the other way. The Terps committed a pair of service errors to fuel a 5-3 Boilermaker run.
“We were a little bit nervous going into this matchup with the effectiveness of the middles,” Hughes said. “Sometimes, when a few people start missing early, the trend leads that way, and it’s hard to stop that.”
Late in the set, Maryland trailed Purdue 20-19. It was another opportunity for the Terps to put their set-closing woes behind them. They came up short once more.
Purdue secured the set and match victory with a 5-1 scoring run.
“We keep cracking and keep getting close to things. We don’t think we’re a top 10 team, and I think we can hang with those level of teams,” Hughes said.
Maryland vs. Indiana
Maryland had an immediate opportunity to make up for the previous night’s loss, with a home matchup against Indiana on Saturday. The Hoosiers prevailed in a similar manner to their state-counterparts. They swept Maryland in straight sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-23).
Maryland (10-13, 1-11 Big Ten) took a quick 5-3 lead to open the first set, but soon surrendered a 6-0 scoring run to Indiana (12-10, 5-7 Big Ten). The Hoosiers then tacked on a seventh following a Maryland timeout.
The Terps defense finally stopped the bleeding with two huge blocks to gain a much-needed point. But Indiana continued dominating.
The Hoosiers answered with another 3-0 scoring run, forcing a second Maryland timeout with the score at 13-7. Maryland got a few points back, but could close the gap. Indiana held on to win the set, 25-21.
Set two began with both teams trading points, but Indiana took an 8-4 lead following a 3-0 scoring run.
After committing seven service errors before an ace, middle blocker Eva Roarbach gave Maryland its first one of the night to pull the Terps within four points.
Maryland kept the game within striking distance, giving itself a chance to comeback when trailing 23-21. But the late-set struggles continued.
Indiana held onto its advantage, securing a 25-22 victory as it closed out the second set.
The Hoosiers took a 6-3 lead to start the third set, but Maryland gained momentum.
The Terps tallied two scores before winning a hard-fought point after prevailing in a long rally. They followed that up with another service ace from Eva Roarbach to tie the set at 7-7.
Both teams struggled to find a breakthrough, as the two wound up in a 21-point tie late in the set.
A clutch block by Samatha Schnitta gave the Terps the lead 22-21, but the Hoosiers answered immediately.
After the Terps scored again, a critical service error from junior defensive specialist Ally Williams was reviewed. The replay fell in favor of the Hoosiers, as they kept the point.
Indiana added a kill, before a Terps attack error ended the match. The Hoosiers won a third tight set, 25-23.
“We were very error-prone. We had two or three goals, and we were probably zero for three on all of the execution,” a frustrated Hughes said after the defeat.
The Terps’ struggles continued in their home back-to-back. They’ve now lost eight straight matches with only one set-victory during that time.
Maryland caps off the second half of its homestand next week. The Terps face Michigan State on Thursday at 8 p.m. and UCLA on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
