By Joseph Foley
Maryland is still looking for its first win in Big Ten Conference play after losing (26-28, 23-25, 9-25) to Northwestern (10-3, 2-0) Saturday night.
Terps senior outside hitter Adrenee Elliot came out strong, putting away the first two points of the game on consecutive kills. Elliot scored the Terps first four points all on kills. A back and forth battle ensued that included five lead changes. An ace from freshman setter Abigail Bentz gave the Terps a 21-20 lead late in the set. However, three service errors proved costly for Maryland as Northwestern closed out the first frame.
Maryland (10-6, 0-2) jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set after a big combo block from middle blocker Hailey Murray and Elliott. Yet that ended up being their largest lead for the rest of the game. The Terps were able to keep the second set close. An attack error by Northwestern’s Sofia Lavin tied the game at 20-20. But the Wildcats took two of the last three points in the set to win 25-23.
From there it was all Northwestern, as they took the final set by a score of 25-9. The Wildcats went on a seven-point run to end the game, which included three consecutive kills from Lavin. Setter Taylor Tashima led Northwestern with 36 assists. Gabrielle Hazen and Kayla Morin each chipped in eight kills behind Lavin’s team-high 12.
“I thought we played decent for the first two sets. The final set got away from us a little bit,” said Terps head coach Steve Aird. Aird gave credit to Northwestern for coming in with a good game plan.
Pacing the Terps offense was setter Whitney Craigo with 22 assists, as well as Elliott with 12 kills. Elliot had the game high in kills in both matches this weekend. The senior continues to step up with fellow senior outside hitter Emily Fraik sidelined due to injury. Kelsey Wicinski and Amy Dion each contributed 11 digs on the defensive side of the ball for the Terps.
Maryland goes on the road to Indiana this coming weekend for two more Big Ten showdowns. They’ll be in Bloomington on Friday to take on Indiana, then West Lafayette on Saturday for a meeting with Purdue. Catch all the Terps action on BTN Plus.
