Maryland volleyball coach Steve Aird said his program is getting “closer and closer” to becoming relevant in the challenging Big Ten conference, which had seven schools finish in the top 25 last year.
In his second season at the helm, the Terps went 15-19, marking their best record since 2012. He also recruited the No. 16 incoming freshman class in the nation, according to PrepVolleyball.
But NCAA rules have prevented Aird from tracking his team’s progress this summer. He’s prohibited from holding official practices until the squad’s allotted preseason period begins in early August.
“I actually have no idea what they’re up to,” Aird said.
Yet Aird believes his team, which has held self-regulated workouts and open gym sessions in College Park since the beginning of June, is working tirelessly to prepare for the upcoming season. It’s a reflection of the faith-oriented coaching style he brought to Maryland after spending two years as an assistant at Penn State.
“You have to trust your players,” Aird said. “We talk about that all the time. They have to wake up every day and their number one thing has to be how to make the program better.”
Aird added that “it’s really about them” because “they make the decision about whether they want to be great.”
Middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor, a senior, acknowledged that Aird “expects more from us in terms of us stepping up” than previous coach Tim Horsman.
“It’s just a different feel,” MacGregor said.
MacGregor sees the Terps’ ongoing culture change as a positive shift, though, and thinks her coach’s expectations have pushed players to become more independent and accountable.
The Tarpon Springs, Florida, native views the team’s decision to train together in College Park for the second straight summer — made independent of the coaching staff — as an example of its newfound self-motivation.
In past years, players had traveled back home for the summer to train on their own. Now, the Terps work out on the campus together up to six times each week, a process that has improved team chemistry.
“Everyone wants to be here,” MacGregor said. “The team is a lot closer in its communication now, and we just trust each other that we’re going to get the job done.”
“You might not see skill level change too much over the summer,” middle blocker Hailey Murray added, “but you definitely build better bonds with each other.”
Aird described his feelings about the approaching season as “tempered optimism” due to Maryland’s inexperienced roster. He’s attracted high-level recruits in each of the past two seasons, but with just five upperclassmen on the squad, he called it “unfair” to expect newer players to adjust right away in a premier conference.
Still, Murray hopes the extensive workouts this summer, along with the improvement the Terps displayed last season, can be used as a springboard for future success.
“We can continue to build off where we left off,” Murray said. “Being around has been really important in being able to carry the momentum into next season.”
