Midway through Maryland volleyball’s first set against No. 18 Southern California, libero Kelsey Wicinski earned her 1,000th career dig by saving a spike veering straight toward her. She became the 11th player in program history to reach that milestone.
But dig numbers 1,001 and 1,002 were perhaps more impressive. First, Wicinski dove to her right to save a strong attempt through Maryland’s middle. In the same sequence, she saved a shot to her left before outside hitter Erika Pritchard notched a kill.
Led by another strong defensive display from Wicinski, Maryland swept Southern California and avenged three straight set losses against the Trojans in the past three seasons. The Terps are now 10-0.
“That’s what we all came here for,” outside hitter Gia Milana said. “We didn’t come here to bow down to better teams. We came here to bring a group of kids together that believes that we can flip something over and beat teams like USC.”
Pritchard and Milana led the Terps with 12 kills, while middle blockers Katie Myers, Hailey Murray and opposite hitter Angel Gaskin totaled four blocks each.
Wicinski delivered 16 digs in the contest. In the fast-paced affair, Wicinski didn’t have time to celebrate her 1,000th dig. Coach Steve Aird plans on giving her something to remember it by after the season, such as a golden volleyball, but he wouldn’t mind another series of digs from Wicinski before then.
“A really physical team like that, they’re going to want to get kills easily,” Milana said. “Kelsey did an amazing job at just frustrating the heck out of them. … She didn’t let them have anything easy, she worked really, really hard.”
Associate head coach Adam Hughes warned prior to the match that the Trojans’ quick pace would force the team to make faster decisions. That showed in the second set, as Southern California sped up its game and took an early lead.
However, Maryland, which features 12 underclassmen, kept its composure. With two top-25 ranked recruiting classes in a row, the Terps felt they were prepared to match the Trojans’ physicality.
Aird kept reminding his team of its game plan during stoppages. The focus on what the Terps had trained for throughout the week helped keep them calm on the court.
“You’re playing a great opponent with a great history and they have a fantastic roster and you have an opportunity to go up 2-0,” Aird said. “You have to play with more passion … and you have to trust in the system that we’ve put in.”
After the slow start to the second set, the Terps climbed back to narrow the deficit to 23-22. Southern California committed a service error, and a kill from Pritchard and combined block from middle blocker Katie Myers and Gaskin won the frame.
The Terps’ bench reacted by spilling partially onto the court in celebration.
“I didn’t think we played great in game two, but [the Trojans] make you look bad at times because of how fast they run their offense,” Aird said. “[The underclassmen] held it together down the end, made some big plays.”
Maryland’s defense closed out the win in the third set with four blocks, including two to seal the upset. The Terps finished with 10 rejections and held the Trojans to a .155 hitting percentage.
“[After] the past couple of years, we kind of saw it coming,” Wicinski said. “We know we were working towards that, and it just feels really good that we were finally actually able to pull it all out.”
