The Terps take the court for the second set during the Terps’ 3-0 loss to Northwestern at Xfinity Pavilion on Sept. 26, 2015.

Terrapins volleyball coach Steve Aird is seldom concerned with short-term goals like wins and losses, never getting too down after any one defeat. Instead, he sets his sights on long-term goals such as rebuilding the program.

After coming over from Penn State two years ago, Aird had a vision. Seeing the 2,952-person average attendance in Rec Hall during his final season as an assistant coach in State College, he made attendance a priority in College Park.

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“When we got here as a staff, they were averaging about 300 people a match,” Aird said. “We were 25th in the country in attendance last year, and I think that’s going to continue to go north, especially as the team continues to improve.”

In his first season as coach, Aird helped boost the average attendance to 1,539. Plus, he helped set a new program record when the Terps drew 4,522 fans for a match against then-No. 4 Penn State on the main Xfinity Center floor.

The Terps saw a sample of that same energy this past weekend when they opened their Big Ten slate against No. 7 Illinois and Northwestern. Against the Fighting Illini, they set an Xfinity Pavilion record, with 1,752 packing into the smaller venue.

“I was really happy with the crowd, the turnout and the support from the community,” Aird said. “We had almost 1,000 people in the crowd [against Northwestern]. … There’s a lot of positive stuff going on.”

Senior libero Amy Dion took note of the raucous crowd — a combined 2,603 over the two nights — and hopes to see it again in the remainder of her college career.

“The fans, the atmosphere, it was unbelievable,” Dion said. “I hope that continues.”

Standing on bleachers lining the far baseline, which were added for the weekend contests, the Maryland Mob led cheers throughout the contests. The student fan group remained passionate throughout both losses and stayed after the Northwestern match for autographs.

“The Mob is crazy and awesome,” setter Whitney Craigo said. “We’ve gotten to know those people personally, and they’re amazing people. We couldn’t play in a better environment.”

As Big Ten play begins, the Terps have maintained an average of more than 1,000 fans to start the season. And though the Terps are in the midst of a five-game skid, the fans have continued to pile into the Xfinity Pavilion.

It’s the passion Aird was hoping he could generate when he arrived in College Park. And with top-level recruits set to join the program in the future, Aird expects support to continue to grow.

“We’re going to be a really good volleyball team in a few years,” Aird said. “The community and the support and the administration and what they’ve done to help us get it done is unbelievable. Obviously you never like to lose, but in the process of building a program, the crowd is a big win.”