The Maryland volleyball team has endured a rocky Big Ten campaign, winning back-to-back conference matches just once.
Coach Steve Aird knew his young squad would struggle against conference competition entering the season, but its inconsistency has still frustrated him.
Friday night against Indiana, though, Maryland had an opportunity to finish the year on a positive note and send senior middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor and setters Carlotta Oggioni and Whitney Craigo out with a lasting memory.
The Terps (12-20, 4-16 Big Ten) beat the Hoosiers (17-15, 6-13) in straight sets with a quality all-around offensive performance in which five players had five or more kills.
Opposite hitter Angel Gaskin paced the team with 12 kills. Meanwhile, MacGregor recorded four blocks in her final college match.
Maryland notched a stellar .444 hitting percentage in the first set to top Indiana, 25-16. Milana led all players with five kills, and the squad finished the frame on an 8-3 run.
The Terps carried that momentum into set two.
After falling behind, 4-3, early in the frame, they never trailed again. Middle blocker Hailey Murray produced an overpass spike to give it a two-set advantage.
In the third frame, Maryland completed the sweep with a 25-21 triumph. Murray won the match with her eighth kill of the night.
It was the Terps’ fourth conference victory, one less than they accumulated last season. But with a heralded recruiting class set to arrive in College Park next year, the result provided another piece of optimism moving forward.
