Maryland volleyball is in the middle of a nearly two-decade long NCAA tournament drought. It’s gone through four head coaches in the 18-year span.
The Terps have made steady progress since coach Adam Hughes took over the program in 2018, and have notched overall percentages of at least .500 in three consecutive seasons. But Maryland finished 7-13 in conference play for the third straight season, the fourth-worst in the Big Ten.
With an upperclassman-heavy roster, the Terps look to change their fortune in 2024.
“I think this year the whole goal was to rely on some of the vets going into this knowing that they had a little bit more experience than some of our newcomers,” Hughes said.
Maryland will need its veterans in a competitive conference this season. USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon each joined the Big Ten with prior success in the Pac-12. The Ducks beat Hughes in the 2012 Final Four when he was Penn State’s volleyball operations director.
“More than half of the NCAA championships are now within Big Ten teams,” Hughes said. “It’s going to be even more challenging. Honestly, if you can get to seven or eight wins in this conference, it’s probably a good thing for all of us.”
[Maryland volleyball has established consistency, but didn’t take the next step in 2023]
Much of Maryland’s returning production comes from upperclassmen — it has eight senior or graduate student returners, including five fifth-years. The Terps’ defense struggled defensively last year and ranked below the top 290 Division I teams in digs per set.
Lilly Gunter could be one of the Terps’ most impactful returners.
She led the Terps with 421 digs and 33 service aces last season, both eighth in the Big Ten. The fifth-year , who appeared in all 114 sets and 32 matches, will aim to continue to develop as a consistent force for Maryland.
Maryland is not placing a large emphasis on returning to higher block numbers from 2022, but rather focusing on a better offense-defense balance. Much of this stems from the roster, which is different from the past two seasons.
“Last year, in certain scenarios, we did make some progress and we’re trying to balance this offensive-defensive nature,” Hughes said. “A great example was Samantha Schnitta … she was our best point scorer. That was kind of a balancing point. It’s like we need her to be solid as a blocker but we need her to produce a lot of offense.”
[Maryland volleyball defeats Rutgers, 3-2, in regular season finale]
Maryland lost two impactful performers to the transfer portal during the offseason in Laila Ricks and Erin Engel. Ricks, who finished with a career best 1.84 kills per set last year, spent four seasons with Maryland before she transferred to Wake Forest. Engel, who transferred to Florida in the offseason, had the second-most service aces on the team last season with 31.
The Terps brought in setter Lilly Wagner, the 2022 MaxPreps Wisconsin Player of the Year, as well as 2023 18 and Under All-American outside hitter Katherine Scherer over the offseason to hopefully offset the losses.
“Lilly Wagner is a very exceptional setter … she kind of committed to this plan knowing that [Sydney] Dowler would probably be back for a fifth year,” Hughes said. “[Scherer has] already shown that she can make an impact for us.”
Wagner and Scherer will partner with Maryland’s upperclassmen to finally reach the postseason for the first time since 2005. That starts with the LSU Tournament this weekend.
