Outside hitter Ashleigh Crutcher celebrates with her teammates during the Terps’ five-set win over Rutgers on Oct. 21, 2014 at the Xfinity Pavilion.
Behind 22 kills from outside hitter Ashleigh Crutcher, the Terrapins volleyball team defeated Rutgers, 3-2, Tuesday night at the Xfinity Pavilion for its first win in the Big Ten.
Despite the team’s 3-2 victory, which snapped an 11-match losing skid and gave the Terps their first ever win in the Big Ten, the team remained consistent that its level of play — not its record — is what defines its season.
“I didn’t think we played very well,” coach Steve Aird said. “I was happy that they won. I’m happy for the kids. …But we need better performances from the team.”
The Terps (8-12, 1-8 Big Ten) jumped ahead in the first set but let Rutgers (7-15, 0-9) back into it after leading as much as 18-13 at one point. They would end up dropping the game as Rutgers earned its first set win in the Big Ten.
“It’s not the product we wanted to put out there,” libero Amy Dion said.
The second set played out much like the first. Solid play from the Terps early pushed them out to a 10-4 lead. They let the Scarlet Knights back in late, though, as Rutgers tied it at 20.
After the teams split the next two sets, however, outside hitter Ashleigh Crutcher was subbed back in and pushed the Terps out to a 23-21 lead with a kill and follow-up solo block.
Rutgers played themselves out of the set afterward with two consecutive attacks that went long of the baseline and sent the teams to the locker room with one set apiece.
“We could’ve played a lot better,” Crutcher said, who returned from an ankle sprain after missing three matches.
Rutgers came out of the break strong, though, forcing the Terps into a 13-8 hole. But the teams thematically ended up even toward the end. A 5-2 run by the Terps, topped off by a block from middle blocker Chavi St. Hill, helped secure the win as the Terps pulled ahead, 2-1, in the match.
Rather than polish off the win in the fourth, though, the Scarlet Knights fought to stay alive. After another back and forth set, Rutgers went on a 8-2 run to win 25-20 and force a fifth set.
But in the final set, the Rutgers began to fall apart. They put the Terps in an early hole, but Aird stalled to let the team recuperate and swung the momentum in the Terps’ favor.
“We were down 3-1 in the fifth,” Aird said. “There was a judgment call on a back row attack. I just tried to slow the match down, talk to the ref. Then the girl missed her serve and we kind of got back into it that way. I don’t like being smoke and mirrors in matches but a lot of it this year is about finding ways to be a little bit more successful.”
Miscues buried the Scarlet Knights at the end, and the Terps polished off the victory, 15-8, in the final set.
And though content with the victory, the team remains unsatisfied with what they displayed on national television.
“It’s nice to have a win,” Dion said. “But a win isn’t all that we care about. We say that after losses, we say it after wins too. It’s are we getting better? And through that match we didn’t.”
