Maryland volleyball snapped a six-game losing streak and earned its first conference victory Wednesday against Rutgers, 3-1, mounting a comeback after falling in the first set.
The Terps embarked on a five-point run to clinch the second set after falling short in what was a close first set, giving them a much-needed confidence boost heading into the remainder of a game they dominated.
Maryland opened the first set strongly, building a 4-1 lead. It took advantage of Rutgers’ attacking errors, and Ajack
Malual struck down on the Scarlet Knights’ defense with a devastating kill shot.
Rutgers slowly climbed its way back up, but Malual continued to be the Scarlet Knights’ nightmare in the early goings. Haley Melby also got involved, attacking the center of the court with a swing to give the Terps a 7-5 lead.
Neither team could break open the game throughout the middle of the set. But Maryland found the opening of Rutgers’ defense late into the set, with kill shots by Duru Gökçen that struck hard at the middle of the court. A point after, Lilly Wagner targeted that same spot to take the lead, 17-15.
Maryland attempted to press with a small run, yet Rutgers built a three-point swing of its own, taking advantage of Maryland’s attacking errors and dishing a serve that the Terps could not return. The Scarlet Knights ultimately seized a 20-19 lead late in the set.
But Malual did not back down from the challenge. Soon after, the Terps’ lead offensive player took control. Her kill shot proved too powerful for Rutgers to return cleanly, then a soft kill to fool the Rutgers defense added another point. She capped the run off with yet another kill shot that was too hard to return, and tied things at 23-23.
Maryland got it to set point with an Eva Rohrbach and Wagner block, but soon after, Rutgers responded, taking advantage of Maryland’s backline hesitation to clinch the first set, 26-24. The set contained 13 lead changes and 10 ties.
The second set opened with a similar aggressive start from the Terps. They embarked on a 4-1 run early on, thanks to a block by Gökçen, two kills by Melby — who targeted center court once again — and a service ace by Jonna Spohn.
Rohrbach and Malual both also had unreturnable spikes, increasing the lead to 6-3.
Despite small runs by Rutgers, Maryland found responses. It embarked on its longest run of the set with a three-point stretch, courtesy of Malual and Sydney Bryant’s kill shots. Both targeted the open space that Rutgers left. This was followed by a forced Rutgers’ attacking error to make the score 10-5.
However, the Terps’ fire was soon extinguished, as Rutgers embarked on a 5-1 run. It attacked the Terps’ soft spots on defense, forcing multiple errors in the middle of the set to tie the game at 13-13.
Malual was practically the sole spark for Maryland in the second set. She continued to target the side court to ensure that the Terps maintained a steady lead.
The second set was capped off with Maryland’s defense stepping up. Blocks by Rohrbach and Wagner saw the Terps clinch set two, 25-23.
The third set was a different story. Rutgers took an early 3-1 lead. Both teams sparked small runs throughout the set, but Rutgers still benefited from the early lead. Rutgers continued relying on the small runs and built a comfortable 12-8 advantage.
The Terps’ approach in the first and second sets were completely different than that played in the third. Simple mistakes on both sides of the ball saw Maryland plummet to a six-point deficit, its biggest of the night.
The Terps called a timeout down 18-12 in set three, one that paid dividends. From there, Maryland embarked on a desperate, but necessary run to salvage the set.
Gökçen sparked the run with a kill shot that snuck past the Scarlet Knights’ defense, then Melby followed suit. Maryland eventually cut the lead down to 17-18 and battled late into the set, with both teams only separated by one point heading into the final stages of the set.
Moments later, the game was tied at 24-24 thanks to a Rutgers service error.
Maryland had to fight back from its second straight set point to bring the score to 25-25. The defense stepped up to earn the advantage, and an attacking error by Rutgers gave the Terps a 27-25 set victory.
After surviving the third set, Maryland faced a similar challenge at the onset of the fourth set, coming back from a three-point deficit with a critical five-point run.
The Terps relied on back-to-back three-point runs, courtesy of Wagner’s kill. That point left the Scarlet Knights’ defense frozen, then errors compounded Rutgers’ predicament. Malual continued to be a force on both sides, as a block and a kill shot in the middle of the court, in tandem with a Scarlet Knights attacking error, increased the Terps’ lead to 17-9.
Malual built on the Terps’ biggest lead with two kills, one that was extremely powerful and another that was soft, confusing the defense. The stretch increased their lead to nine points, 20-11.
Maryland dominated the rest of the set and clinched the fourth set, 25-14. The Terps earned their first conference victory and tournament victory of the season.
Head coach Adam Hughes felt the aggressive energy was necessary for the second set as the key turning point of the game.
“I was pretty aggressive with them, and they responded great,” head coach Adam Hughes said. “In the timeout I said, ‘hey, we’re doing well offensively. You gotta make some defensive stops.’ We did that. You can see they’re confident, and extremely proud of them for tonight.”
Three things to know
1. Malual hunting season. Malual led the Terps with 21 kills, matching her season-high. This also marked her fourth game with 20 or more kills on the season.
2. Lilly Wagner ties her season high. Wagner tied her season high of 48 assists in Wednesday’s action. It’s her fourth game collecting 40 or more assists on the season.
3. Maryland hits the road. Maryland will travel to Michigan State to start its three-game road trip.
