By Jonathan Spadafino

The Maryland volleyball team fought hard and gave it all they got in their fifth straight match against a ranked opponent on Sunday. However, despite a full team effort that saw numerous players contributing to the team, the No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-7, 12-4 in the Big Ten) proved to be too much for the Terrapins (9-18, 2-14) to handle as they fell in four sets (17-25, 14-25, 25-18, 18-25).

Maryland errors plagued the team throughout the match but particularly in the first set as the Huskers raced out to a 17-9 first set lead despite four massive kills from senior outside hitter Ashleigh Crutcher. As was the theme throughout the match, Maryland continued to fight forcing six set point attempts thanks to a few big blocks and a ferocious kill by Hailey Murray before Kelsey Fien finished off one of her 18 kills to give Nebraska the first set by a score of 25-17.

The second set of the match was constantly back and forth as the two teams were tied at five separate times along with three lead changes. Standout sophomore Murray continued to play well but the Huskers soon pulled away to a 15-8 lead. The Terrapins continued to fight behind a pair of kills from Emily Fraik who finished the match with team high 13 kills, but it wasn’t enough as Nebraska took the set 25-18.

It would’ve been easy for the Terrapins to give up and admit defeat to the Cornhuskers on a cold Sunday afternoon in the middle of a two week long road trip. But Maryland proved they were fearless and would not give up that easily. They quickly got out to a 4-1 lead in the third set and never looked back behind great play from middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor and six more clutch kills from Fraik who finished off the final two kills of the set to give Maryland the 25-18 victory in the third set.

In the fourth set, Maryland continued to fight despite an early 9-4 by Nebraska. The Terps quickly fought back to cut the lead to one. Fraik and Crutcher continued to pace the offense as the Terps desperately tried to keep up with the Cornhuskers. Sophomore outside hitter Kadie Rolfzen finished off three straight kills to give Nebraska a comfortable 21-15 lead. Once again the Terrapins tried to fight their way back into the match, but Nebraska was too strong as they finished off the set with a 25-18 victory and a 3-1 advantage in sets.

Crutcher had 12 kills for the Terps but also accompanied that with seven errors on offense that hurt the team. Sophomore setter Carlotta Oggioni had an amazing game for the Terrapins as she led the way with 20 assists. Amy Dion struggled while serving but also led the Terps with 15 critical digs.

The Terrapins finally return home this Wednesday at 7 p.m in an important game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.