With pressure at its highest on Sunday, Samantha Schnitta drilled a serve straight into the net.
But as she’s done all season, the Terps’ pin hitter responded.
The graduate student has been the anchor for Maryland volleyball (6-2). That continued in a straight-set win over UMBC (0-8) on Sunday.
Schnitta led all players with 13 kills and five service aces as the Terps raced to their fifth-straight victory. The graduate student is third in the Big Ten with 19 service aces and has six more than any other Terp.
“Because I’m left-handed, [my serve is] able to have that tail to it,” Schnitta said. “So it’s pretty gnarly to pass. [Volleyball coach Adam] Hughes and I have worked together on how I can adjust my feet … and the height of my toss to be able to go get it.”
But Schnitta clobbered the potential set-winning serve into the net against a winless UMBC team on Sunday, evening the score at 24.
Schnitta bounced back, though it wasn’t in her typical form of an ace or a kill.
[Maryland volleyball beats UMBC, wins third consecutive game in straight sets]
It was a high-lob by the pin hitter across Maryland’s side that set up outside hitter Syndey Bryant for a kill. The sophomore lept up sky high and drilled one untouched across the Retrievers’ side, giving Maryland a one-point edge.
That was just one of two assists by Schnitta, but it came at an essential juncture. The Terps took the next point on a UMBC error, securing a crucial 2-0 set lead.
“The team realizes that she has to take some big swings or big serves, and sometimes she’s gonna make it, sometimes she’s not,” coach Adam Hughes said. “I think the team’s supporting her and there’s no reaction when she misses a serve, because they know it’s a big benefit if she can get on the run she does.”
In the third set, a kill by the graduate student put Maryland up 20-16. Then she stepped up to the service line and swiftly won five consecutive points on-serve to end the match. That stretch included three of her five aces.
[Maryland volleyball sweeps Lehigh for fourth straight win]
Schnitta and the Terps kept their composure during that surprisingly close second set and carried it over into the third.
“We work hard day in and day out and we lie around the gym when nobody’s watching,” Schnitta said. “Knowing that that’s what our standard is and knowing that going into games, [when] we’re in those hard situations, there’s nothing that we shouldn’t be able to handle.”
That resiliency was demonstrated in Maryland’s thrilling five-set victory over American on Sep. 7th. Up 13-12 in the fifth set, Schnitta demolished her career-high 21st kill to set the Terps up for the massive win.
Schnitta recorded her 300th career kill as a Terp on Friday night. Two weeks ago, she was named Terp of the Week when she recorded 48 kills over three games and led the team to an undefeated weekend.
The importance of Schnitta’s veteran leadership and stability in pressured situations cannot be overstated. She’ll look to lead the Terps to their sixth straight win on Wednesday against Delaware State.
