After a tough five-set loss against Ohio State, Maryland failed to respond against an impressive Michigan offense in Sunday’s College Park showdown. The Terps fell to the Wolverines in straight sets, their seventh straight loss
Head coach Adam Hughes, desperate for an offensive boost and a win, opted to start a 6-2 lineup with Annika Sokol at setter and Katie Scherer at the right side.
The experiment saw limited success, as the Terps hit negative on the match.
Opening set one, the teams traded blocks.
A block off Sydney Bryant and out of bounds gave Michigan an early 3-1 lead. After consecutive Wolverine kills, a failed coaches challenge and an ace by Maddi Cuchran, Maryland was down early.
Two straight Michigan kills pushed the lead to five and forced Hughes into an early timeout. After the break, Bryant exploded for her first kill. It would be a tough night for the junior, though, who had five errors on eleven attempts.
Maryland’s errors hitting, setting and at the service line forced Hughes to burn his second timeout with the team down 12–5. At this point, not a single Maryland player was hitting positively. The Wolverines were hitting .400 combined.
Once again, Maryland’s outside hitting responded out of the break. Haley Melby’s swing rattled through two blockers, her first action en route to a team-high eight kills on the night.
Maryland gained momentum after a Melby ace and a pair of Wolverine errors. A stuff by Duru Gökçen — fourth in the Big Ten in blocks — gave the Pavilion something to cheer about as the Terps trailed 18–13.
On the next play, a behind-the-head set to Serena Nyambio found the middle of the court. Nyambio’s slide frustrated the Maryland wall all match, recording six kills hitting .500 in the game.
An Ajack Malual-powered rally ended with a strong block by Gökçen and Malual in the middle. The Wolverines led 20-15.
A failed coverage on a Bryant swing did not waver her confidence; on the next play, a high flying swing caused the stands to erupt.
The blocking-based comeback effort continued with a block by Malual on the right side. Unfortunately, Maryland’s season-long struggles showed up on set point, as the Wolverines recorded their fifth ace, winning 25-15.
Hughes’ lineup adjustments continued. Malual started the second set looking for more production, but she didn’t find much early success as Michigan opened an early 6-1 run.
Tough service pressure and poor first contact forced Maryland into an early timeout again. In response, senior middle Eva Rohrbach stuffed outside Allison Jacobs for the point; however, a service error by Sokol surrendered possession.
Malaual’s first kill of the game came more than halfway through the second set, a tipped hit over the outstretched fingers of the Michigan block. The swing capped an 8-4 stretch in favor of Michigan despite kills from Bryant, Malual, Katie Scherer and Olivia Ruy. Aces and errors continued to frustrate the Terps.
Nyambio, running behind the setter for her third and fourth kills, pushed Michigan to 20 points. After a review, Malaul was rewarded with her fourth kill of the game, and Maryland trailed 20-10.
Maryland did not score again in the second set. Frustrations boiled over in an out-of-rotation call, followed by back-to-back Wolverine blocks against Rohrbach and Scherer. Back-to-back kills by Jenna Hanes and Allison Jacobs ended a messy second set, which Michigan captured, 25-10.
In the deciding set, Nyambio opened the scoring with another slide play. A net violation by the Wolverines gave Maryland possession, but only briefly. Overpasses and miscommunications in the back row quickly pushed the Michigan lead to three.
Later, a strong dig by Ally Williams along the back line failed to be kept up by her team. Meanwhile, Michigan’s defense in the back row, and against Melby at the net, allowed it to open a quick 7-2 lead and forced Maryland to call a timeout.
Back-to-back errors by Rohrbach, who failed to find a piece of the court, pushed the lead to nine.
After a diving one-armed save by Jonna Spohn, now wearing the libero jersey, kept the play alive, Melby converted on a well-placed shot to the cross corner. She turned back to her team with a smile, looking to spark a run.
Melby swung again to pull the terps within seven points. Later, a strong Malual swing kept the deficit at seven, but Maryland was unable to find a run. Michigan’s tenth service ace, followed by Lydia Johnson’s kill, pushed them to within two.
Scherer’s seventh error, missing blocking hands once again, ended any Maryland hopes. Michigan won the final set, 25-15.
“We thought they were one of the better offenses, and we were trying to match that,” Hughes said after the game. “In the past, the 6–2 had been something we used to boost us. Today was the first time we tried to see if we could start out that way, and didn’t go as planned.”
Three things to know
1. Melby’s night. On a bleak offensive night, veteran Haley Melby led the team in kills and attempts. She hit .222 in the matchup with two aces. It wasn’t a magnificent performance, but certainly a step in the right direction for a team that needs it.
2. Road ahead. Saturday’s loss against Ohio State looms large, as Maryland now heads into four straight ranked matchups still looking for its second conference win.
3. Rotation questions. Hughes has shuffled pieces around the last couple of games to see if anything sticks. Today, he tried starting with a 6–2 formation, looking for some offensive spark. Its struggles may mean more experimentation is on the way.
