Maryland volleyball libero Kelsey Wicinski suffered an upper body injury last week, preventing her from traveling to her home state for weekend matches against Northwestern and Illinois.
That opened the door for freshman libero Sam Burgio to make her first career start Friday against the Wildcats. Wicinski texted Burgio before the matchup to offer advice, continuing her mentorship of the underclassman.
Burgio, charged with filling the void left by the Big Ten’s leader in digs per set, posted a career-best 19 digs at Northwestern to help the Terps earn a five-set victory.
“She’s going to be a really fantastic player in this conference,” coach Steve Aird said. “When your role shifts like that quickly you want a player to be brave and confident and play hard, and she does all those things. … Certainly, we don’t win the match [against Northwestern] unless she plays pretty well.”
[Read More: Maryland volleyball falls to Illinois in straight sets a day after beating Northwestern]
Burgio played as an outside hitter throughout high school, but Aird saw a different future for her. He approached the 5-foot-10 Burgio in her sophomore year of high school and told her he wanted her to become a defensive specialist for the Terps.
After Burgio committed to Maryland her sophomore year, she spent extra time practicing the passing and receiving skills she would need as a libero. The Eden, New York, native still earned her state’s Gatorade Player of the Year award in 2015 with 646 kills from the left side, though she also notched 510 digs.
As a pin hitter, she had experience receiving serves before setting up for an attack, but she maintained focus on hitting.
“If I messed up a pass, I was always like, ‘Oh, set me the ball, let me get a kill,'” Burgio said of her high school mindset. “But now I can’t mess up a pass because that’s not my job.”
She arrived in College Park last spring knowing she needed to improve in order to be a starter, so she stayed after practices to hone her game.
Two days before playing Northwestern, Burgio learned Wicinski wouldn’t make the road trip. The freshman had made 17 prior appearances off the bench, but she was poised to start on back-to-back nights against Northwestern and Illinois.
She was so amped up that she struggled to sleep the night before facing the Wildcats.
“In general, I always get really excited,” Burgio said. “But I was like 10 times more excited than I usually am.”
Following her 19-dig effort Friday, she tallied 10 more against the Illini in a straight-sets defeat. Burgio said her teammates helped her stay calm in the two Big Ten road matches, reminding her she knows the game well.
“We’ve all been in her ear,” middle blocker Hailey Murray said. “I’m really proud she went in, got the start. She did a really good job and I think she’s just grown so much since I’ve known her.”
During Saturday’s loss, Burgio had a serve deflect too hard off her arms and sail back to the Illini side of the net. An Illinois player took advantage of the overpass to slam home a kill.
But freshman outside hitter Erika Pritchard told Burgio to “just reset.” Pritchard’s encouragement helped Burgio recover from her miscue, and on the next volley, Burgio dug a ball to help create a Maryland point.
“The experience for Sammy Burgio is obviously awesome,” Aird said. “We know she can play that position and play it in the Big Ten and play it well.”
