Maryland volleyball coach Steve Aird withdrew outside hitter Gia Milana late in the third set Friday night against Indiana after she made two attack errors in a span of four points. Aird critiqued Milana’s play, continuing his hands-on approach to her development.
Aird felt the sophomore, who is Maryland’s best-ever recruit and kills leader since her arrival in College Park, needs to show more willingness to listen to his coaching. That bugged him even after the Terps eased to a four-set victory over the Hoosiers (25-19, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20).
While Aird said he allowed Milana free rein last season, not pulling her aside for similar dips in performance, he wants her to embrace his more aggressive coaching approach this year so she can become an elite player.
“She’s so talented, she’s just equally stubborn and she will not make subtle changes for me,” Aird said. “The best players I’ve coached, up into the kids who have played in the Olympics, just want to make changes because they want to learn how to play the right way.”
Milana accounted for nine kills through two set victories, marking a strong response from her and the Terps, who dropped their previous three matches. Milana didn’t notch a double-digit kill tally during that recent skid.
She finished with a team-best 14 kills, while outside hitter Erika Pritchard followed with 11 kills.
Still, Milana’s mistakes irked Aird.
After Milana accounted for 16 attack errors during Maryland’s three-match losing streak, Aird conveyed the importance of not forcing a shot if there isn’t a clear attacking lane or if the set is off the mark. Aird told Milana to use a more conservative shot selection to keep rallies going.
But Milana committed seven miscues Friday night. She admitted she’s still working on her efficiency.
“Before I went to Maryland, I wanted to hit everything,” Milana said. “I wanted to get kills. But coach is trying to harp ‘If we give them back the ball, that we’ll get it better if it’s well placed.’ … I really, really have to keep working on that.”
Maryland’s early dominance came in part due to Milana’s quick start to the match, as she posted five kills and registered a .400 hitting percentage in the first set. However, Milana said she tried to do too much at times, leading to her .146 attacking percentage for the match.
The Terps hit .250 in the opening frame and held the Hoosiers to a .098 clip.
Milana didn’t mean to earn Maryland a 24-20 set point in set two. She mistimed her jump with setter Samantha Snyder’s pass, tipping the ball over the net to keep play going. Her soft shot found a hole in the Hoosiers’ defense — evidence she’s attempting to adapt her game around Aird’s philosophy.
Milana rebounded from an error to win the second frame via a powerful shot through the Indiana backline.
Maryland (15-8, 4-7 Big Ten) experienced frustration in the third set, though.
Aird called timeout after back-to-back overpasses and a receiving error from Milana on a serve destined to land out of play. But rather than standing up from his seat, he drank from his green Gatorade bottle, allowing associate head coach Adam Hughes to handle the huddle.
“My mom … taught me early if you’re not going to say nice things, probably don’t say anything at all,” Aird said. “There wasn’t anything positive that I could find. I was highly disappointed.”
With Milana back in the match to start the fourth frame, the Terps closed out the match. She gave the Terps a 3-0 lead with a back row kill, causing her to jump and perform a fist pump.
Indiana’s 15th service error of the contest sailed out of play to conclude the match, giving Maryland its seventh home victory of the season. With 15 wins, the Terps are one win from tournament eligibility.
“We’ve wanted this since I committed my sophomore year of high school,” Milana said. “We just have to keep executing game plans and keep being mindful and learn and mature.”
