Maryland volleyball freshman outside hitter Gia Milana is used to proving herself in an underdog role. At Romeo High School, she led an unheralded program to its first-ever Class A state championship.

She then rejected offers from ranked Big Ten programs such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State to attend Maryland, where she hoped to achieve a similar turnaround.

Before Milana’s first season in College Park, she felt people did not take the squad seriously due to its 15-19 record last year. That motivativated her to find success in the challenging Big Ten.

While the Terps (10-15, 2-11 Big Ten) are unlikely to make the NCAA tournament this year — their latest result was a four-set loss to Purdue on Wednesday night — Milana has made an immediate impact, ranking fourth in the Big Ten with 3.93 kills per set.

In that match, Milana traded kills with Boilermakers middle blocker Danielle Cuttino, an honorable mention All-American last season. Milana notched a career-high 23 kill, while Cuttino had 22.

After competing alongside Cuttino last summer as part of the U.S. Collegiate National Team-Indianapolis program, Milana said it was a “really cool feeling” to go back and forth with “such a great player.”

“[Cuttino] is an exceptional talent,” coach Steve Aird said. “I’m not sure anyone in the country can slow her down when she’s doing what she’s supposed to do.”

Milana recorded a negative hitting percentage in her previous two matches but was prepared to bounce back against the Boilermakers, who received votes in the latest AVCA coach’s poll. She said she simplified her attacking approach by focusing on “swinging hard and high off [blockers’] hands.”

She quickly found a rhythm at Holloway Gymnasium, notching seven first-set kills, including four out of the Terps’ first nine points. After producing just two kills in the second set, Milana had six in the third and eight in the fourth.

Still, the freshman is working through her mistakes, a few of which she made in the fourth set. Milana made consecutive set-point attacking errors, which allowed Purdue to tie the game at 24. Then, with the Terps ahead, 25-24, she served the ball into the net.

After the loss, she said “it hurt” to stumble with a chance to send the match to a decisive fifth set. But instead of letting the errors affect her confidence, she said she would use them as motivation going forward.

Sunday. Milana hopes to improve her play in clutch situations against No. 2 Minnesota (18-4, 10-3). It’s the type of difficult matchup she looked forward to when deciding to join the Terps.

While Maryland has not qualified for the NCAA tournament since 2005, the outside hitter predicted before the season that the squad would make a Sweet 16 within the next four years.

That run won’t happen this campaign, but an opportunity to knock off the Golden Gophers this weekend gives the Terps a chance to make a statement.

“I know it’s a long shot [to make that tournament run], and I know these teams are going to be huge and these girls are going to be studs,” Milana said in late July. “But I believe that anything is possible. With a little bit of fire in your heart and some hard work, you can beat anyone.”