Maryland volleyball entered its Sunday rematch against Penn State with hope. Earlier this season, it pushed the Nittany Lions to five sets, and its best player had an offensive field day.
But the Terps
met a very different Penn State team Sunday. They ultimately succumbed to the pressure of Rec Hall — one of the nation’s historic volleyball venues — on Penn State’s Senior Day, losing in straight sets for the fifth consecutive game, and never leading.
Penn State started its seniors in the first set. With the last matchup in mind, its game-plan was keyed in on stopping Ajack Malual. And while a block against the senior gave the Nittany Lions an early 2-1 lead, Malual responded immediately with a kill down the line.
The Nittany Lion blocks continued throughout the first set. Seniors Maggie Mendelson and Kennedy Martin combined for a stuff, hitting Haley Melby in the head on the way back down. She was slow to get up but eventually shook it off.
Malual’s second kill of the night kept the Nittany Lions from building a substantial lead; Penn State led just 11-8. At the time, Penn State had four players with multiple kills, compared to Maryland’s two.
After back-to-back errors by Emmi Sellman, what would have been Penn State’s third error was overturned. The review showed Martin’s swing caught the fingers of Eva Rohrbach on the way out, continuing a frustrating blocking night.
Rohrbach found the floor after a Penn State overpass but missed her serve directly after. Maryland kept close, but was unable to mount any serious push despite the back-row defense extending plays.
Melby continued her strong first set, hitting 1.000 at that juncture. Her fourth kill cut left Maryland trailing 19-16. But her first error of the night, which followed a kill from DMV native Sellman, pushed Maryland to call a timeout — Penn State was closing in on the set win.
Three straight kills by three separate Terps after the timeout kept Maryland close, but they failed to score again after the 3-0 run. A block against Melby gave Penn State the 25-19 set one victory.
The second set saw Maryland regress to its season mean of poor serve reception and an absent block defense against conference opponents.
A Martin ace capped a 4-0 run by the Nittany Lions, forcing Maryland into an early timeout. After the break, a Sellman kill and second Martin ace extended the run, and the Terps trailed 8-1.
A strong cross-court shot by Malual stopped the bleeding. Penn State continued to balance its offensive attack, with kills from Caroline Jurevicius, Jordan Hopp and Martin maintaining the seven-point lead.
Errors by Penn State helped Maryland remain in the game. Another service ace forced Maryland into a timeout, and Penn State led 14-7.
Out of the timeout, Malual, facing just a single blocker, exploded for her fifth kill of the night down the line. Senior middle blocker Mendelson responded immediately with a strong shot out of the middle in her final game at Rec Hall.
A crafty setter dump by Lily Wagner cut the lead to six. And after a back-and-forth outside battle, with Sellman and Melby trading kills, Penn State led 17-10. Back-to-back attack errors by Maryland further extended Penn State’s lead.
Melby continued her do-it-all afternoon, adding an ace to her stat sheet. But Jurevicius exploded in the final minutes of the second set, recording four kills to push Penn State two points away from a set two victory. A Martin swing iced the second set, and Maryland lost 25-15.
Malual put Maryland on the board in the third set with her sixth kill of the night. Mendelson responded, and Penn State continued to shine across the net, a big departure from the Penn State team Maryland met earlier in the season.
Maryland was able to extend plays, but struggled to match Penn State’s across-the-board offense. Maryland got contributions from Malual, Melby, Wagner and Rohrbach, including a behind-the-back setter dump, but it was matched.
A 12-5 run, including two Nittany Lion service aces, forced Maryland to burn both of its timeouts early, and Penn State led 15-6.
Duru Gökçen used Penn State’s blockers’ hands against them, forcing the ball off them and into the antenna on the way out.
A Martin roll shot found Taraflex, leaving Maryland defenders frozen to cap a quick 4-2 run — suddenly, Penn State led 19-8. A quick 3-0 Terps run after the play would be the closest Maryland would come to contesting in the third set.
Rohrbach met the overpass, hitting it right back for the kill. Rohrbach’s offense was a bright spot all night, hitting .333 with six kills. On defense, Maryland’s front row struggled tremendously to slow anyone down.
Rohrbach and Wagner then combined for Maryland’s first block of the game on the outside against Sellman, and Penn State led, 20-12.
The 6-foot-6 right-side Martin terminated the play on the very next sequence, as the ball landed right in front of Malual’s platform. The swing brought her one point from Penn State’s single-season point record, set last year by Jess Mruzik.
Martin tied the record on match point, hitting through the block to close the final set, 25-14. That shot made it three straight kills by the Nittany Lions, as they closed the wire-to-wire victory.
Three things to know
1. One block. Maryland recorded just one block, continuing their struggles against conference opponents. The previous matchup against Penn State was the only time Maryland out-blocked a ranked team.
2. History continues. Maryland has only ever beaten the Nittany Lions on the road once, and it was more than 40 years ago; it was also the last time the Terps won the matchup.
3. Dominated across the board. The Terps were outmatched in every key category, recording 19 less kills and assists, 16 fewer digs and 8 fewer blocks. Penn State hit .449 with three players in double digits, while Maryland had none.
