The Maryland volleyball team dropped its first nine Big Ten games despite having match points Oct. 2 against then-No. 24 Illinois and Oct. 19 against No. 16 Michigan.
The Terps (9-13, 1-9 Big Ten) viewed Saturday night’s matchup with Rutgers as an opportunity to earn their first conference victory.
The Scarlet Knights (4-19, 0-10) entered the contest tied with the Terps for last place in the conference. If the squad produced a high-energy performance, outside hitter Gia Milana said it could capture its first road win since Sept. 10.
After beating Rutgers in straight sets at the College Avenue Gym, players felt relief. But even though the win marked a positive step for the program, Maryland said it’s important to correct the mistakes the team made against the Scarlet Knights.
“It feels good,” opposite hitter Angel Gaskin said. “The team as a whole took a deep breath afterward. But know we still need to get back into the gym and get a lot better.”
Milana, who led Maryland with 19 kills, said she and her teammates stretched after the game “without the regret of, ‘Well, I should have done this or I should done that.'”
Still, she wished the Terps showed more consistency against Rutgers. While they had dominant stretches, including a 12-4 burst to take control of the second set, she lamented the unforced errors that kept the match close.
Overall, Maryland committed 18 attacking errors in the contest, and Milana made eight mistakes.
“We just need to play Maryland volleyball all the time,” Milana said. “We have moments of greatness and then moments of dead volleyball, so we just need to fix that and play cleaner.”
She attributed the Terps’ sloppy moments to inexperience, which has plagued a group with 10 underclassmen all season.
“We’re still learning,” Milana said. “But I feel like it’s also the fact that we’re not used to playing at the highest level. We just need to get more experience … and take care of business.”
While coach Steve Aird believed the Terps played better in the defeats to Illinois and Michigan than they did against last-place Rutgers, he “was proud of the kids for taking care of business.” After all, they had blown a two-set advantage over the Wolverines three days earlier.
As someone who emphasizes the process of improving over wins and losses, though, the coach didn’t gloss over his players’ mistakes against the Scarlet Knights. He echoed Milana’s claim that the squad didn’t show enough composure and ball security.
With two matches this week against No. 19 Ohio State, Aird acknowledged his team must improve to compete with another top Big Ten foe.
“It’s nice to win, but sometimes winning doesn’t tell the whole story,” Aird said. “There are a lot of things we have to get better at.”
