Digs are burying the Terrapin volleyball team in a deep hole.
The Terps (5-10, 1-2 ACC) have struggled with digging, a key defensive skill, and other fundamentals this season, leading to a losing record.
“I know exactly what’s gone wrong,” coach Tim Horsmon said. “You’ve got to have discipline. You’ve got to have heart. And those things are the two things that if you want to be a great defensive team or a great defensive player that you’ve got to do. It’s that simple.”
But this simple solution has been out of the Terps’ reach so far.
The team has faltered defensively because of missed opportunities for digs. And the offense has also missed opportunities to close out plays, forcing the defense to be involved in more plays.
Rather than focus on one key adjustment in practice, the team has had to focus on every aspect of their play, from digging and defense to attacks and offense.
In losses to North Carolina and N.C. State this weekend, the team lost opportunities because of missed or mishandled digs, giving the other teams the upper hand.
“Defensive-wise, we just need to make more plays,” outside hitter Michelle Kenning said. “We need to dig more balls. That’s basically the main point.”
Libero Bethany Springer has the most digs with 200. A libero is a team’s defensive leader, so she is expected to get the most digs on the court. But Horsmon wants Springer to step up even more in light of the team’s current situation.
“We’re probably not getting enough energy from that position,” Horsmon said. “We need that position especially to be a vocal leader, not only someone who makes all of the easy plays but a lot of the great plays and changes the momentum of our game.”
Springer was not available for comment.
Beside Springer, the team has three defensive specialists, Christina Paul, Rachel Profit and Marissa Odom. Paul and Profit played against the Wolfpack on Sunday as Horsmon tried to give the team’s defense a boost, but the Terps still lost, 3-1.
But Profit had 13 digs in the match, and her teammates think she helped make a difference.
“Rachel is doing really well coming off a shoulder injury from last year,” middle blocker Lisa Scott said. “I think she’s really stepping it up and getting it done and working really hard.”
The Terps recognize that the libero and the defensive specialists cannot take the blame for the poor defense. Outside hitter Maggie Schmelzle has the team’s second-highest dig total, 147.
Defense has had to become a priority for the team, though, because the offense has not been able to finish plays, Horsmon said.
“We’re having issues on the other side of that because we’re having to dig so many balls,” Horsmon said. “Our attackers aren’t putting balls away, so we have to continue with so many defensive plays. There’s constant pressure on defense because we’re not terminal offensively.”
The team has also had 90 service reception errors and has 345 attacking errors this season, proving that the team’s problems are not endemic to the defense.
“We’ve had a lot of errors in every single thing that we do,” Horsmon said. “You’re not going to be able to find one single thing that we’re not erring at. We have a lot of defensive errors, serve receive errors, service errors, blocking errors, attacking errors. Right not, we are really, really good at making errors.”
If the Terps cannot get on track, not only on defense but in all aspects of the game, fans might have to dig in for a long season.
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