By: Max Marcilla

Three University of Maryland teams have plenty of differences. Head coach Missy Meharg has been at the helm of the Terrapins’ Field Hockey program for the last 28 seasons. Meanwhile, a first-year head coach and a pair of rookie assistant coaches lead the Terp’s women soccer team while Maryland volleyball has only five upperclassmen.

But there is one connection these three Maryland programs share: the players and coaches are prideful of their teams.

“I think this [Field Hockey] team from the very beginning was just a really special unit,” forward Welma Luus said at Maryland’s media day. “We have so many new players and I think that actually is what’s special about this team. We play together, we are a team, there’s no real stars, you know? We’re all playing together, we’re all passing the ball and I just think that’s really special about this team.”

Luus, who Meharg described as the “go-to player”, was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team a year ago after a record-setting performance in the conference tournament.

Luus wasn’t the only Terrapin athlete that spoke passionately about her team.

“[The Maryland volleyball team has] grown a lot in the past few years, and I think right now we’re at a point where every single person on our team is a really important piece to the puzzle,” junior middle blocker Hailey Murray said. “You’ll see the starting six obviously… but every person on our team is very capable of playing in this conference, and it’s really important.”

After a 3-0 start to the season, the volleyball team is ready to head off to play Kansas, a Final Four team a year ago.

“I think for the first time, we’re really family,” Murray exclaimed with a smile. “We trust each other and the new incoming kids are not just great athletes, they’re great humans. I enjoy being around them every single day. They make me so happy… We just really love what we do and we love each other.”

Even the newcomers to College Park, MD, such as head women’s soccer coach Ray Leone, are ready to raise high the black and gold in 2016.

“It’s so exciting to come back home,” Leone told the media. “I mean I really had to catch myself at that first game. I think it’ll even be better this week when the kids are back in school and more people come to see our games and see what we’re trying to do. I’m very excited to be a Terp.”