By Jasmine Brown
Maryland volleyball played their best game of the season in a spectacular game against No.1 Penn State, but were unable to hold on losing in four sets. Before a crowd of over 3,100, the Terps played well on all cylinders, which led to them taking the first set 25-21. The arena erupted as the Terps took game one and it carried over in the second set. Penn State however would take the second set with the final score being 25-17.
Finishing the set with 17 points was a great sign of resilience and maturity for the Terps against Penn State as they usually average 12 points in sets against top ranked teams.
Terps’ third set struggle woes continued as fatigued showed and they lost game three 25-12. The fourth set was the most nail-biting set of the match, as the Terps found themselves three points away from extending the game to the fifth set. The game was at 22 all late in the 4th, but three errors cost Maryland the win as Penn State won the set and the match with a final score of 25-22.
“To beat a team of that caliber at that level you have to play very clean and play very very hard for two hours,” coach Aird said after facing his alma mater.
Freshman Liz Twilley has had a very successful season so far and loved the energy from the crowd that she played in front of.
“You just want to be able to put on a good time for them because they are giving you a lot of energy back,” Twilley said. “It was awesome.”
It was also the annual “Dig Pink” game as University of Maryland honored those who survived breast cancer. Despite the loss the Terps were proud of their level of play.
“I thought our youngsters played well against a really high caliber team. The best part of the night for me was that we didn’t roll over in game four and we kept competing,” Aird said.
