Maryland volleyball returned home Saturday, ready to change the projection of its season against Ohio State, and hoping to end its conference flaws and five-game losing streak.
The Terps were in familiar
territory, down 2-1 heading into the fourth set and needing to adjust quickly. They did just that, clinching the fourth set and forcing a winner-take-all frame.
But Maryland’s comeback attempt fell short again, as the Terps collapsed in five sets against the Buckeyes.
Ajack Malual was once again the dominant force early on; she notched three kills early in the first set. Although Ohio State climbed back, Maryland responded with an incredible rally after back-to-back saves by Ally Williams and a Malual attack to the middle court. An error by Ohio State gave the Terps a 9-7 lead.
The first set was close; Maryland and Ohio State finished the set with 14 ties and six lead changes. Maryland tried to seize momentum with a couple of small runs, but Ohio State kept pace.
But the momentum shifted away from the Terps, as Ohio State embarked on a five-point run to take a 19-16 lead. Maryland returned with its own firepower, though, with errors by Ohio State and a kill by Lilly Wagner to even things.
A service ace brace by Eva Rohrbach gave the Terps a two-point lead. Ohio State tried to fight back, but the Terps had the crowd’s energy on their side, ultimately clinching a dramatic first set, 25-23.
Ohio State quickly took a three-point lead in the second set, but Maryland slowly crawled its way back. The Terps gained some easy points, thanks to multiple Ohio State mistakes and Malual’s kill that targeted the center court again.
But their momentum faded fast as the set continued. Maryland lost its lead and kept losing. The Terps faced their biggest deficit, down by eight after Ohio State continued an 11-point run, its longest of the day. Maryland couldn’t find a comeback, and Ohio State clinched the second set, 25-16.
The third set continued the Buckeyes’ momentum, gaining a three-point lead early on that continued to hold after some back-and-forth points. The Terps slowly found their groove and built a four-point run — a kill from Rohrbach capped the run and pushed the score to 10-8.
Maryland faltered from there, though. The Terps found themselves behind again and unable to close the gap. The defense couldn’t defend an Ohio State spike on set point, landing a frame away from the loss.
Maryland needed to find its rhythm quickly to force a fifth set. It jumped out to an early lead in the fourth frame, but Ohio State’s response brought it to 4-4. Blocks and kills by Malual and Melby helped the Terps take an 8-5 lead, and Scherer added a pair of kills to push Maryland’s lead to 10-6.
Bryant continued to add to the dominant set performance — a quad kill coming off the Buckeyes’ timeout gave Maryland a 16-8 advantage. That domination only continued, as the Terps captured the frame, 25-11.
It was Ohio State that grinded out an early lead in the winner-take-all set, seizing a 6-3 lead. But with Malual leading the charge, Maryland fought back quickly, cutting the lead to 7-6.
Chances for a Terps victory started to slim, as Ohio State only grew its lead further to 10-6. Maryland’s last-gasp effort took the form of a 5-2 — Malual’s kill, Melby’s kill and Bryant’s kill and block made it 12-11 Buckeyes.
But Ohio State got the last laugh, going on a 3-1 run to clinch the fifth set, 15-12.
Three things to know
1. Even contest. Both teams had four identical stats: points, kills, attacking errors, and assists.
2. Dominating sets. The teams routinely traded moments of being in complete control of a set, with the momentum was all on their side. That didn’t happen within, though. After the first set, which had six lead changes, there were five total lead changes through the rest of the game.
3. Errors haunted the Terps. Despite having the same amount of attacking errors as the Buckeyes, the Terps still had errors in different aspects that led them to their loss.
