While the Maryland volleyball team entered its final road trip of the year with little chance of making the postseason, coach Steve Aird told his players to treat matches at Illinois and Northwestern as if they were pivotal to qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

The Terps almost beat the then-No. 24 Fighting Illini at home on Oct. 2, losing, 3-2, and defeated the Wildcats in straight sets last season. But the coach knew it would be difficult to earn victories away from College Park.

Aird called Huff Hall in Champaign, Illinois, the most difficult road environment in the Big Ten. He also noted that Northwestern was another challenging team to handle on its own floor.

Still, Maryland was frustrated with 3-0 losses to the Fighting Illini and Wildcats this weekend.

“It definitely is a challenge to be a good team and then also to be a good team on the road,” outside hitter Liz Twilley said. “We didn’t win any sets … but we’ve got to keep working. We have to get to the point where we can be confident in winning on the road.”

Outside hitter Gia Milana led the Terps with 22 combined kills. However, she struggled to be efficient with her attacking opportunities, as she also made 18 errors.

The Romeo, Michigan, native anticipated a difficult matchup with the Fighting Illini given their blocking prowess. Illinois middle blocker Ali Bastianelli leads the nation with 1.72 blocks per set, and she registered nine block assists against Maryland. Overall, Illinois out-blocked the Terps, 11-3, on Friday night.

Aird said the crowd noise in that matchup was less of a factor than he expected, but his squad struggled to play with consistency.

“Although the environment wasn’t quite as intense, I thought [Illinois] played really clean and really well,” Aird said. “The reality is we’re just one peg below them right now.”

The Terps led, 17-15, in the first set against Illinois and kept close for much of the second frame. However, the Fighting Illini closed the periods with 10-2 and 8-3 runs, respectively, to take command of the contest.

Maryland dropped a closer third frame, 27-25, to seal the straight-set defeat.

Against Northwestern on Saturday, the Terps were more competitive but still dropped fell, 26-24, 25-22 and 25-21.

Setter Taylor Smith, who notched 27 assists against the Wildcats, blamed a lack of focus for the team’s disappointing performance.

“We had a game plan to follow, and we didn’t execute it as well as we should have,” Smith said. “We just have to come out and focus on each game one at a time, point by point.”

But Aird took responsibility for Maryland’s failure to take a set. He said the squad’s younger players needed better guidance to succeed on the road and felt he didn’t provide that.

“It’s on me,” Aird said. “I have to find a way to get the younger kids to develop and get them to play hard. At the end of the day it comes back to coaching, so I’ll wear it.”