On Sept. 23, Maryland volleyball started Big Ten play with a straight-set loss at No. 2 Minnesota. In that contest, the squad failed to score more than 14 points in any of the sets.
The Terps then lost the next eight matches to drop to 0-9 in conference competition. But following recent wins over Rutgers and then-No. 19 Ohio State, the Terps were excited to test their progression against the Golden Gophers at Xfinity Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
More than a month after the blowout loss at the Sports Pavilion, though, Maryland suffered a similar result at home.
The Terps (10-16, 2-12 Big Ten) lost, 3-0, to Minnesota, marking their third straight defeat. They improved upon their earlier performance against the Golden Gophers (19-4, 11-3), scoring more than 14 points in all three sets, but failed to stage an upset.
“We’re going to be better at home than we are on the road,” Aird said. “But [the Golden Gophers] are a Final Four team and we’re a long way from that. They did what they’re supposed to do.”
Minnesota entered play with the most blocks per set in the conference with 2.92.
And while the Golden Gophers notched 10.5 rejections against Maryland, outside hitter Gia Milana was able to accumulate 17 kills to lead all scorers.
She said it helped that setter Taylor Smith, who recorded 31 assists, excelled.
“When I go up to hit I can see the blockers in front of me, so I would see a big wall and try to hit around it,” Milana said. “It was difficult but I think Taylor did a good job of putting me in good positions to get kills.”
Minnesota never trailed in set one. Milana and outside hitter Liz Twilley combined for nine kills in the frame, but the Terps fell behind, 9-4, and could not recover, as the Golden Gophers closed the set on an 11-5 run.
In a loss to Purdue on Wednesday, coach Steve Aird lamented a lack of energy from his players after dropping the first frame. The Boilermakers went on a 12-2 stretch in the second set to take control of that match.
As a result, Aird hoped his squad could rebound better from adversity against Minnesota.
The Terps trailed, 17-9, to start the second frame against the Golden Gophers on Sunday. They closed the gap to 23-18 before ultimately falling, 25-19.
When the frame finished with a Minnesota kill, Aird was calm. As his players sprinted to the locker room, he walked slowly to the scorers’ table, grabbed a stats sheet and left the court to address the team.
Maryland came out strong in a must-win third set, jumping out to a 9-6 advantage that forced the Golden Gophers to call timeout. Aird said that energy came from improved offensive execution on offense compared to the first two frames.
However, Minnesota regrouped to take a 12-11 lead.
Aird stood from the bench and clapped to encourage his players. When the Golden Gophers recorded a kill on the next point, he called timeout.
But he was unable to stem a 14-3 onslaught from Minnesota that put it on top, 20-14. The Terps came back to cut the deficit to 21-20, but lost the frame, 25-23, to seal the sweep.
Still, players saw the performance as a mark of progress since their previous loss to the Golden Gophers.
“We knew coming into this match that we were better off than we were at the beginning of the conference season,” Twilley said. “So we had a higher expectation for ourselves … It was definitely a better feeling this time, but we still have to keep working to get better.”
