The graduate student has made drastic strides since last season, and the numbers back it up.
Trailing 7-4 early in the fourth set Saturday against UCLA, Maryland volleyball sought to close out the match and earn its third Big Ten win of the season. Graduate pin hitter Samantha Schnitta — the country’s leader in service aces — emerged as she’s done all season.
She tallied consecutive aces, helping spark a monumental comeback en route to a 27-25 set victory.
Schnitta has made drastic strides this season, particularly in her serving. After recording just 0.2 service aces per set last year, Schnitta has skyrocketed to the highest mark in the nation with 0.7 service aces per set.
She models her serving game after Micha Hancock, a three-time first-team All-American setter at Penn State from 2011-2014, whom head coach Adam Hughes worked with during his nine seasons in Happy Valley.
Hancock, a Team USA member since she graduated, led the country in service aces her senior year.
“While Micha doesn’t really use that topspin anymore, this past season we’ve been able to work on the same techniques that Micha used during her time at Penn State,” Schnitta said. “It just clicked.”
Schnitta tallied 13 service aces in 2023, but quadrupled that number after just 15 matches this season. She only recorded three total service aces across this year’s first four matches, but got red-hot with 11 straight matches of at least three service aces.
“[Schnitta’s] gotten over that hump of ‘Hey, I’m going to have to miss a lot to get to where I need to be,’” Hughes said. “Now, her misses are very dialed in. They’re not bad misses as much. They’re pretty controlled, and it’s allowed her to get back to what she wants to add to her serve.”
While serving has been the clear focus of Schnitta’s improvement, she’s also shown great progression in her attacking game, becoming the Terps’ top threat out wide.
Last year, she was the second option for Maryland, trailing outside hitter Sam Csire in kills. In 2024, Schnitta leads the team with 305 kills, 59 more than the next closest Terp. She also has posted single-digit kills in just eight matched.
The 6-footer from Overland Park, Kansas, transferred before the 2023 season from Ole Miss, where she spent three years. Schnitta helped lead the Rebels to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2021, finishing fifth on the team with 133 kills.
As Schnitta looked for a new home, she was drawn to Maryland’s coaches.
“During my second recruiting process, I wanted to look for a connection with the coaching staff and for somebody who was going to care about me as a human,” Schnitta said. “I met coach Hughes, right off the bat, he picked me up at the airport and took me to meet his family.”
The numbers don’t tell the entire story of Schnitta’s impact. As one of two graduate students on the Terps’ roster, she has become a role model for the younger players.
Her veteran presence, stability and resilience have been noticeable throughout the season. In the team’s straight-set victory over UMBC, Schnitta drilled a serve into the net that would have pushed the Terps to a 2-0 set lead straight. But she responded with an assist to outside hitter Sydney Bryant.
“The team realizes that [Schnitta] has to take some big swings and sometimes she’ll make it and sometimes she won’t,” Hughes said. “I’m not going to take her out of that situation. I don’t even talk to her. You don’t want them to overthink it, just want them to be in their flow.”
Schnitta has been rock-solid for the Terps in high-pressure situations, especially during conference play. Preparing for those moments has been a conceited effort.
“I use an app called Headspace, and they have programs, and one of them is called, ‘Competition,’” Schnitta said. “It allows me to ground myself and slow my heart rate before a game. So when I go into the game, I’m ready to go and those nerves aren’t as crazy as they could be.”
The application gives access to guided meditations, mindfulness tips, focus tools and sleep support. The competition program itself is designed to help athletes prepare by training their minds to focus and release any inner chatter.
The Big Ten is widely regarded as one of the best volleyball conferences in the country. But Schnitta has certainly been up to the challenge.
In her first season with Maryland, Schnitta exceeded expectations, setting personal single-season highs in kills and kills per set. More than halfway through her second season, she has cemented herself as one of the best players in the conference.
“The biggest thing is to stay consistent, and so with consistency and determination, that helps with getting better,” Schnitta said. “[We] set a standard for each other. … Being able to get those extra reps when I have time to personally builds my confidence.”