Through its first three seasons of Big Ten play, the Maryland volleyball team notched just four conference road victories.
Recruiting efforts have helped narrow the difference in skill on the court between the Terps and the yearly tournament challengers they face each year during their conference road trot. But learning to win in opposing arenas is the program’s next step.
After a straight-sets sweep over Indiana in Bloomington on Sept. 23, errors pressured Maryland into two losses against ranked opponents in its next weekend trip.
But for a team with 12 underclassmen, including three freshmen starting in the match versus the Wildcats on Friday, the Terps showed composure to complete a five-set comeback (34-36, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 17-15).
That demeanor didn’t carry into Saturday’s matchup with Illinois, as the Illini swept Maryland (21-25, 18-25, 22-25).
“It’s hard to win on the road,” coach Steve Aird said. “Certainly, for the weekend, splitting the series is what we needed to keep going the direction we want to go.”
While Northwestern relied upon outside hitters Symone Abbott and Nia Robinson for 54 kills, Maryland worked through 25 errors through a distributed attack. Five players posted double digit kills.
The Wildcats needed an extra 11 points to win the first set, 36-34, but Terps errors aided them – both on attacks and from the end line. Maryland held a 23-20 edge in the set, but Northwestern tied it at 25. There would be 10 even scores before the Wildcats captured the first frame.
After a 25-23 second set win, the Terps held another advantage in the third frame. Up, 24-21, the Wildcats used two Terps errors and added two aces to post five unanswered points to win the set, 26-24.
But Maryland’s superior hitting in the final two sets secured its second road conference win of the year, attacking .306 and .429 down the stretch.
“I was really proud of the composure of the group,” middle blocker Hailey Murray said. “Obviously, it’s hard to come back and win in five sets, but I was just really proud we made a commitment to staying in there and just trying our hardest.”
The Terps posted 14 blocks, with middle blocker Jada Gardner leading with a career-high six rejections. The performance marked the first time the Terps posted double figure blocks in a conference match this year.
“One of the things we really work on during the week in practice leading up to the match is our defensive scheme,” Murray said. “Our coaches had us really well prepared for what Northwestern was going to bring.”
Since middle blocker Katie Myers suffered a season-ending knee injury, Maryland hasn’t dominated at the net. After blocking helped establish an edge over Northwestern, Maryland encountered difficulties in repeating its net game against Illinois, as the Illini outblocked the Terps, 7-3.
With libero Kelsey Wicinski sidelined for the second straight match, the Illini hit above .280 in each set.
Maryland held leads throughout the first frame, but its chances to pull away when it led, 16-12, were squandered due to a 9-2 run by Illinois.
While the Terps limited the errors which extended Friday’s match to five sets, Gia Milana suffered a layover after a 21-kill performance against Northwestern. The sophomore outside hitter hit .075 and matched outside hitter Erika Pritchard for a team-high eight kills.
The Illini handled the Terps in the second and third frames to earn a straight-sets victory.
“The pressure on these kids is we’ve got to just keep getting better,” Aird said. “We’re a pretty good volleyball team, I think we do a lot of really good stuff, but the conference demands great. … You’re going to lose matches. You’re not going undefeated in this conference, no one is.”
