Maryland volleyball opened its season Friday, going 1-1 in the first day of the LSU tournament.
The Terps dominated Troy in the teams’ first-ever matchup, winning in straight sets to improve to 12-1 in their last 13 season-openers. Sophomore middle blocker Eva Rohrbach led the way on defense with 11 blocks.
Coach Adam Hughes mentioned before the season how crucial it would be for graduate student Samantha Schnitta to produce on offense. She did just that in this one, compiling ten kills to lead the Terps.
Next up for Maryland was LSU, who had also won earlier in the day, beating New Hampshire 3-2 in a highly-contested affair. The Terps fell in this one, losing three sets to one.
Maryland (1-1) started key veterans such as pin hitter Schnitta, setter Sydney Dowler, libero Lilly Gunter, outside hitter Sam Csire and middle blocker Anastasia Russ. The team is expected to rely on its veterans heavily this year while developing young talent.
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Sophomore Eva Rohrbach and junior Ally Williams, at middle blocker and defensive specialist respectively, rounded out Maryland’s starting unit.
Rohrbach led Maryland in the first set with three blocks as the Terps outblocked LSU (2-0), 5-3. She wound up 11 blocks.
LSU won a highly-competitive first set, 25-22. Jessica Jones recorded her lone kill of the opening set to seal the deal on LSU’s first set point.
Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson, the 2023 American Volleyball Coaches Association South Freshman of the Year, led the way early with eight kills on 12 total attempts. She wound up with 28 kills, breaking a career-high of 25 set earlier in the day against New Hampshire.
The Tigers out-killed the Terps 16-12 in the first set, led by Robinson.
The second set featured much of the same high-intensity play from both sides. Schnitta got going for the Terps, including two lethal service aces by the lefty in the set. She tied for second with eight kills in the contest.
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The Terps went up 21-12 in the second set before LSU responded with a comeback of its own to trim the lead down to three. Maryland got the job done on its third set point to win 25-22 and even the set score at one.
The match looked like it could go either way after two sets. That stayed true early in the third, but LSU ultimately prevailed by a score of 25-20 to take a two-to-one lead in sets. Gunter committed a service error on set point to seal it.
Setter Bailey Ortega proved integral for the Tigers, finishing with a game-high 43 assists. In the third set, she assisted on three of the Tigers’ first ten points won, helping them get out to a three-point lead that they held onto.
Sydney Dowler excelled in her own right for the Terps, finishing with 27 out of the team’s 33 assists. In the third, she finished with eight assists.
With their backs against the wall, the Terps started the fourth set by winning the first four points. LSU rallied to tie things up at 10 in the third set. After that, everything shifted as LSU went on a monstrous 7-0 run to take complete control of the match.
LSU kept its momentum and won the set, 25-22, to halt a late Maryland comeback and win the match.
