Amy Dion

Riding its first winning streak since early September, the Terrapins volleyball team entered the weekend with matchups against a floundering Iowa team and No. 14 Nebraska.

And while the Terps aspired to prolong their recent success, they slipped back into their familiar ways, dropping both matches in straight sets over the weekend.

A disappointing loss against the Hawkeyes on Friday, though, inspired an admirable effort against the powerhouse Cornhuskers one night later.

“We need to do better [against Iowa], but I think it’s a learning experience for all of us,” middle blocker Hailey Murray said Saturday. “We came out tonight and fought a lot harder.”

Serving struggles hampered the Terps (9-14, 2-10 Big Ten) through the match against Iowa (11-12, 3-9).

Neither team could find much to distinguish itself from the other in each set, but the Terps — who rank second in the Big Ten in service aces — gave away 11 points through service errors Friday. Coach Steve Aird encouraged his players to hit long serves, but the team still drove several attempts into the net and only had three aces.

“When I read the articles, it’s ‘we’re bottom-feeders, we’ve lost 11 straight and we’re not a very good team,’” Aird said after the match against Iowa, “I’m just telling you the truth: We’re not a very good team.”

Aird was also unhappy with his players’ dispirited effort.

“Iowa beat us in every phase, and they did a better job,” Aird said. “They were more excited about competing and they did a better job of preparation. They played with a passion that you have to play with in order to win.”

The next night against Nebraska (14-7, 8-4), however, the Terps turned things around.

Against one of the nation’s premier teams, the Terps competed fiercely in the first set, exchanging leads six times before falling, 25-23. The next set, the Terps took a 5-1 lead to begin the frame.

The teams would change leads three more times before the Cornhuskers pulled away at the end once again. Though the Terps couldn’t close out either of the first two sets before the break, Aird was still happy his team showed the spirit to which he had become accustomed.

“I hate losing,” Aird said. “But the response was good after a really bad match last night.”

Through the first two sets, the Terps were capable of minimizing the impact of Nebraska setter Mary Pollmiller. She often tried to dump the ball quickly over the net, but Terps blockers routinely snuffed out those attempts.

“Our coaches gave us a great scouting report,” Murray said. “They tell us she’s going to do it. It’s our job to kind of do what they say, and if they say the setter’s going to dump, you know to pick it up.”

In the third set, though, Pollmiller’s attempts began finding hardwood, and the Cornhuskers flaunted the ability that places them among the nation’s best teams and rolled to win.

Still, the Terps felt they represented themselves well Saturday night. And that wasn’t the case the night before.

“The way coach put it was that he wanted to see what kind of fight we have and how we carry ourselves,” middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor said. “We had a couple stretches where it wasn’t the cleanest volleyball we played, but overall we fought through.”