By Joseph Foley

In what was an exciting atmosphere Friday night at the Xfinity Center, the Terrapins fell to the Michigan State Spartans in consecutive sets (23-25, 14-25, 21-25) in front of a crowd of 4,173. The loss extended the Terps (7-11, 0-7 Big Ten) current losing streak to ten games.

Down 20-24 in the first set, Maryland rallied off three straight points to cut the Spartan’s lead to one, yet MSU won the set on a receiving error by the Terps. Michigan State tallied up sixteen kills in the set compared to Maryland’s nine.

The Spartans did not look back from there, as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the second set which lead to a Maryland timeout by head coach Steve Aird. Maryland was unable to cause a shift in momentum, as the Spartans maintained a steady lead throughout the set.

The Terrapins made things interesting in the third set when they cut Michigan State’s lead to 21-19, yet the Spartans pulled away and earned the sweep victory.

Leading the Spartans (11-7, 4-3) attack were outsider hitter Chloe Reinig, who compiled sixteen kills, along with freshman setter Rachel Minarick, who dished out thirty-three assists.

Maryland Freshman middle blocker, Hailey Murray, continues to be a standout for the team as she added nine kills to go along with a .389 hitting percentage. Other leaders for the Terps were libero Amy Dion, who racked up sixteen digs, as well as setter Whitney Craigo, who contributed eleven assists.

The Terrapins are back in action tonight, as they attempt to snap their losing skid against the Michigan Wolverines at 7 p.m. in the Xfinity Center Pavilion.