Maryland volleyball nearly matched No. 10 Penn State’s kill total in the second set, ending the frame a mere two kills behind.
But the Nittany Lions created separation through the Terps’ self-inflicted mistakes. Despite playing solid volleyball centered around setter Sara Toth, Maryland ultimately closed the door on itself with eight attack errors in the set.
With Penn State ahead 8-6, Emmi Sellman took the service line and immediately drilled an ace. On her next serve, Sydney Bryant rose up and sailed
the ball wide. Bryant swung a mishit on the following play as well. That sequence was part of the Nittany Lions’ four-point run. While the Terps clawed back in the set, they couldn’t overtake Penn State.
Maryland recorded 16 attack errors and eight reception errors in the match, finishing with a .167 hitting percentage in Wednesday’s 3-0 loss against Penn State. The defeat marked the Terps’ last home match of the season.
“Honestly, I thought they were just better at serve and pass,” head coach Adam Hughes said. “They did a really good job from the endline, and that was one of the matchup things we were concerned with.”
Still fighting for a spot in the Big Ten tournament, Maryland will travel to Rutgers and Ohio State hoping to pull off two gritty wins to fulfill Hughes’ preseason goals of a tournament spot.
“The goal being this season was to get back to .500, to get to the Big Ten tournament, and to stay at the Big Ten tournament for a little bit,” Hughes said. “We are now playing in the last week of the season and still have all of our goals in front of us.”
The Terps got off to a slow start, conceding the first five points without an answer. Brooklynne Brass slammed a ball to kickstart a surge of energy — the beginning of a 5-1 run that closed Penn State’s early deficit.
Maryland’s front row showed flashes of excellence. Occasional hammers startled Penn State’s defense, while routine duo blocks allowed for a close mid-set game despite Maryland trailing in kills.
With the game starting to get out of hand, Hughes called a timeout down 19-14. Bryant recorded a kill immediately after the break, but it was downhill from there. The Nittany Lions ran away with the first set, 25-17.
Ava Brown earned Maryland the opening point of the second set. Penn State’s Kennedy Martin responded, though, and her team followed suit by going on a brief spurt to open up a small cushion. In the midst of the Lions’ streak, Toth notched a kill with a clever dump. Two straight Terps points followed Toth’s creative play, but the Nittany Lions responded with four uncontested points.
Right as the set seemed to spiral out of control for the Terps, Bryant logged a kill, and Brown checked in and recorded two consecutive kills of her own. This effort by the two outside hitters only delayed the Terps’ breakdown.
Although the Terps reached 11 second-set kills compared to the Nittany Lions’ 13, Maryland essentially handed Penn State the second set, 25-16, with a subpar eight attack errors.
Penn State held Maryland to a disheartening .081 hitting percentage in the frame, a drastic decrease from a first-set .300 mark.
“I don’t know if I have an answer for that one,” Hughes said about failing to win a Big Ten second set so far this season.
The Terps held on for the first few points of the third set, tying the game at three apiece early. The early stalemate was the only chance they had to avoid a sweep, as Sellman struck a kill and libero Ava Falduto subbed in. Immediately taking the service line, Falduto led the Nittany Lions on a six-point run. Maryland fell behind, 9-3, and Hughes exhausted an early timeout.
Hughes’ break was somewhat successful; Eva Rohrbach notched a kill, and the Nittany Lions immediately committed an error. Bryant fought with aggressive offense to keep the Terps in the game and win another set in her last home contest. Martin and Bryant went blow for blow in the middle of the set, and their teams followed. But that changed after the media timeout.
Consistent with the theme of the match, Penn State bounced back from a slower start. Mirroring the second set, Sellman posted a kill, and Falduto took the service line. The Nittany Lions went on a five-point run, putting the game at 20-11. Bryant continued to push for a comeback, but ultimately fell short. Penn State took the third set, and ultimately the match, 25-15.
Three things to know
1. Errored out. The Terps remained within striking distance for the early and middle parts of the first two sets. The lack of offensive accuracy limited the competitiveness of the Terps against the Nittany Lions.
2. Offensive struggles. While Maryland showed brief moments with its offense clicking, Bryant barely scratched double-digit kills and was the only Terp to do so. Toth’s 28 assists were well distributed, with no one player catching fire. Despite the struggles on Wednesday, Hughes has been proud of his offense this year.
“We are the most improved offensive team in the Big Ten from a year ago,” he said. “We have the second most improved serve-receive from a year ago.”
3. End-of-season stakes. Maryland currently wouldn’t qualify for the Big Ten tournament, standing at 16th in the conference. The Terps’ remaining opponents, Rutgers and Ohio State, both sit directly above them in conference rankings. Winning those games are crucial for Maryland to earn a spot in the tournament.
“We’ve prepped for this all year,” Hughes said on the team’s upcoming two games. “We get a day in between, which I’m thankful for… we look forward to one game at a time.”
