Libero Amy Dion digs the ball during the Terps’ three-set sweep over George Mason at Xfinity Pavilion on Sept. 6, 2015.
For the past two seasons, mid-September has been a turning point for the Terrapins volleyball team. A strong start against weaker nonconference competition has turned sour with the approach of conference play.
Last season, the Terps won their first six matches before stumbling to a 10-21 finish. And though the Terps’ 8-0 start this year is their best since 2005, the wins have come against Atlantic 10 and Ivy League foes rather than schools from power conferences such as the Big Ten or Pac-12.
This weekend’s Kristen Dickmann Invitational in Annapolis will offer the Terps a chance to prove themselves against stronger competition, however, when they face Texas Tech (6-1), George Washington (4-3) and Navy (2-5).
“Coach [Steve Aird] set up the schedule in a great way — not that the teams we played this weekend were by any means an easy win, but each weekend, it’s building and building and building to Big Ten competition,” libero Amy Dion said. “That’s always our goal. It’s great to beat these teams, but that’s always been in our mind.”
Building up to the Big Ten’s level of play is difficult, as the conference is perennially one of the nation’s strongest. It currently has seven teams ranked in the top 25 of the National American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, led by Penn State, the back-to-back national champions and No. 1 team in the country.
The returning players, who got a taste of the Big Ten last year, have helped the freshmen adjust to the difficult atmosphere and teams. Dion has tried to detail what playing against the fiercest competition in crowded arenas feels like, as when the Terps traveled to then-No. 11 Nebraska last year and played in front of an announced 8,005 fans.
“You try to describe it as best you can, but Coach always says, ‘Experience is what you get right after you need it,’” Dion said. “You can tell them all you want, but until you’re in it and get through the first game, I’m not sure you can really describe how it feels.”
In practice, Aird strives to prepare his team as best he can, but it’s tough for him to replicate the physicality and skill of Big Ten opponents.
“We have practice players that help out a bit here and there, but I don’t think anything can recreate it until you’re in it,” Aird said.
That replication might be difficult, but as Dion alluded to, the steady rise in competition provides the Terps with valuable experience going into their conference opener against Illinois on Sept. 25.
The Terps’ first test against a major-conference opponent comes Friday from the Big 12’s Texas Tech. Behind middle blocker Lauren Douglass’ team-high 63 kills, the Red Raiders have dropped just one match out of seven this year.
Then Saturday morning, the Terps meet George Washington. The Colonials are led by middle blocker Chidima Osuchukwu, who ranks seventh in the country with 132 kills. Navy, meanwhile, heads into the weekend coming off a four-set loss to Air Force.
With two ranked teams looming on the schedule the following weekend, the invitational’s heightened competition provides a chance for the Terps to evaluate their newfound success.
Senior Emily Fraik watched as last season’s team struggled in mid-September, so she isn’t letting the Terps get caught up in their hot start.
“You just keep pushing them every day in practice and never let them take things for granted,” Fraik said. “It’s the little things that count.”
