The Terps secured back-to-back wins.
Maryland volleyball had the opportunity to secure back-to-back Big Ten wins for the first time all season. The Terps, fresh off their four set victory over Michigan State on Thursday, looked to carry their momentum over against UCLA.
And Maryland did exactly that.
After spending eight matches looking for their elusive second Big Ten win, the Terps have secured back-to-back victories, defeating UCLA in four sets in College Park Saturday night.
“We’ve been talking a lot about coming together and finishing strong, because we did have a tough stretch,” setter Zoe Huang said. “Knowing that these are all winnable games, and even though we lost, we have the capability to beat the teams we did lose to.”
After Bruins’ outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette got the scoring started with a kill, Maryland responded with five points of its own. Stellar play from pin hitter Samantha Schnitta led the charge, with three early kills and a joint-block with middle blocker Anastasia Russ.
But UCLA stormed right back, cutting the Terps’ lead to one. Minutes later, Leverette’s fourth kill of the match helped push the Bruins in front, 8-7. Trailing 11-10, Maryland got its lead right back after a kill from outside hitter Sam Csire, while Russ and setter Sydney Dowler got a block. The Terps extended their lead to five with another block from Russ and Schnitta.
Libero Kat Lutz looked to spark some momentum for UCLA after cutting the deficit to three with a service ace, but the ensuing serve sailed long. Two kills from middle blocker Eva Rohrbach and one from pin hitter Katherine Scherer helped cap off the set, 25-20.
Maryland hoped to ride its momentum to the second set. Instead, the Bruins sprinted out to an early 6-0 lead on the back of three kills from middle blocker Leilani Dodson. A kill from Schnitta and two blocks from Russ got the Terps on the board. But UCLA maintained its lead for a bit longer.
Leverette pushed the Bruins in front, 14-8. Then Maryland landed a big blow, scoring seven of the next eight points. Three kills from Scherer and two more from Schnitta helped push the Terps in front by one.
“[Scherer] had one good outing and then a not so good outing last week, and I think she learned from that,” head coach Adam Hughes said. “She came back and had a great practice on Monday. It was a really good response, just knowing that she was going to get back to business.”
UCLA’s middle blocker Anna Dodson broke the deadlock at 18 with two kills, a run that proved fatal. Trailing 21-18, Csire brought Maryland back within one on two separate occasions. But the Bruins held on to close it out, 25-23, after Leverette’s ninth kill of the match.
Unlike the previous sets, the third set was tight early on, as neither team could muster a big run. Rohrbach and Dowler teamed up for a massive block, putting the Terps up 6-4. Maryland kept its lead at two until the score reached 15-13. UCLA pushed ahead by one after a service ace from libero Sydney Breon.
But the Terps, for the second time in the match, landed a big blow late, scoring six consecutive points. Three kills from Schnitta gave Maryland set point, before Scherer closed it out, 25-19, her 10th kill of the set.
The Bruins, looking to force a fifth set, dashed out to a 3-0 lead after a kill from Leverette. But unlike in the second set, the Terps responded with kills from Csire and Russ. Soon after, UCLA extended its lead to four, 6-2.
With the Terps down 7-3, Schnitta — the nation’s leader in service aces — added two more to her season total, knotting the score at seven apiece. Two kills from Russ and one from Schnitta moved the score to 15-11.
Later on, Schnitta restored Maryland’s four-point lead with her 20th kill of the match. Setter Kate Duffey cut the lead to two with a service ace, but Rohrbach and Csire moved the score to 22-19. Back-to-back kills from Dodson cut the Terps’ deficit back to one.
Knotted at 25 apiece, Rohrbach recorded a huge block before Schnitta closed out the match with her game-high 22nd kill, 27-25.
“They’ve settled into just focusing on the touch in front of them, trying to continue to do their job,” Hughes said.
With the win, Hughes now has 100 victories in charge at Maryland.
Three things to know
1. Season-high in kills from Schnitta and Scherer. After outside hitter Sydney Bryant went down with an injury, both players have risen to the occasion. Schnitta tallied her 22th kill of the match on the final point and Scherer had 13 of her own.
2. Home success. While Maryland has struggled to pick up wins on the road — going just 2-7 — it has handled business at home. The Terps started off the season 5-0 in home matches before faltering in their next five. But all three of their Big Ten wins have come at home.
3. Late-set struggles end. While Maryland has had issues all season long closing out sets, it has seemed to figure out those woes. This was evident in the final set, which it won, 27-25. In an area that they usually falter in, the Terps found a way to pull out the tight set.