Growing up, Maryland volleyball middle blocker Hailey Murray admired Penn State.

The Nittany Lions won NCAA titles in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014, and she remembers always paying attention to their successes.

“Every little girl watching volleyball growing up looks at Penn State knowing all the girls,” Murray said. “You know their names, and you even know the bench players’ names.”

After Murray arrived at Maryland, though, Penn State became a rival. And because coach Steve Aird played and then worked as an assistant coach with the Nittany Lions before coming to College Park, she said it’s been important to compete with extra intensity when facing the Nittany Lions.

Murray expects the Terps’ match up with No. 10 Penn State on Friday at the Xfinity Pavilion to be an emotional encounter.

“When the Penn State match comes around, it’s always about playing hard for coach because I know he takes it really personally,” Murray said. “It’s pretty unique because he knows the girls over there so well and he knows the coaching staff there so well.”

In fact, Aird spoke on the phone with Hall of Fame Penn State coach Russ Rose on Tuesday. He said he talks often with Rose, who is a mentor and “always there for advice.”

The Terps coach looks back on his time as an assistant coach at Penn State as “really good days of my life” that taught him how to develop a winning culture at Maryland. During a two-year coaching stint in State College, Pennsylvania, he was involved in recruiting, training, talent development and marketing.

All of those positions showed him the type of commitment needed to sustain a successful program.

“You need people who are all in,” Aird said. “It’s a 365-day-a-year thing. Winning at that level is not a hobby. It’s a full-time commitment.”

Aird’s playing career at Penn State influenced his coaching style, too.

As an undersized outside hitter for the Nittany Lions, he worked hard to prove he was capable of playing at a high level. That scrappy mentality is something he’s brought Maryland, where the Terps are trying to earn respect in the challenging Big Ten.

Setter Taylor Smith said proving doubters wrong has become a key motivator for the team this season.

“What I do now is I really gravitate toward people who want to bite off more than they can chew,” Aird said. “Underdogs and people who are tough.”

But while Aird hopes the Terps (10-16, 2-12 Big Ten) can upset the Nittany Lions (18-7, 9-4) on Friday, he acknowledged he would prefer to beat the other 12 teams in the Big Ten. His connection with Penn State makes the matchup difficult, and he said he recruited many of the Nittany Lions’ starters during his time as an assistant coach.

So even though Terps players are looking forward to the upcoming matchup, Aird will be pleased when the contest is finished.

“I don’t enjoy it,” Aird said. “It’s a match that I’m always happy when it’s done. I obviously pull for them in every match except the match we play.”