Maryland volleyball sought to save a set point and tie the third set against Penn State. Samantha Schnitta, the Big Ten leader in aces, stepped up to the service line.
The graduate student crushed a serve directly into the net, giving the set to the Nittany Lions and putting the Terps in a one-set set deficit.
No. 3 Penn State eased through the final set at Rec Hall on Thursday in a 3-1 win, the Terps’ third straight loss to open Big Ten play.
Pennsylvania native Anastasia Russ returned for Maryland (9-5, 0-2 Big Ten) and recorded a stifling block on the first point. The middle blocker missed the past two matches with an ankle injury.
But even with Russ back, the Terps struggled early.
Back-to-back errors from graduate student Samantha Schnitta and sophomore Sydney Bryant put them in a quick deficit. Penn State (13-1, 3-0 Big Ten) was comfortable, placing kills all over the court to force coach Adam Hughes into calling an early timeout.
Hughes, who grew up in State College, Pa., was the Nittany Lions’ Director of Volleyball Operations from 2010-2014. He was a part of the program for nine years overall, winning three national titles in the process.
“It’s always fun to come back here as someone who grew up here,” Hughes said. “It’s always a place I want to finally get my win, and I’m glad we cracked it a little bit.”
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Maryland screamed in rejuvenation as Bryant, coming off a career-high 24 kill effort, had an emphatic block on the first point out of the timeout. Schnitta added a pair of kills later in the set to trim the deficit to 12-10.
The Terps got contributions from a wide-variety of players, especially on the defensive side. They had 19 digs in the opening set — a quartet of players recorded at least three.
“The biggest thing was I thought there was no hesitation,” Hughes said. “Sometimes, when you have a scouting report or a game plan, you can get so stuck in your ways. And I thought they used it as a really good benchmark and then made plays from there.”
Libero Lilly Gunter, one of the four, rocketed an ace to give Maryland a two-point edge and prompt a timeout. The Terps closed well, as a Camryn Hannah error gave Maryland the first set, 25-22. Penn State swept the Terps in last year’s meeting.
A Sydney Dowler ace put Maryland up 11-8 in the second set. But the Nittany Lions responded, winning seven-of-eight points to take a three-point lead of their own. They continued their strong play.
Penn State recorded three more kills in the set, including a spike from Camryn late in the set that the Terps couldn’t reach despite multiple player efforts. The Big Ten’s leader in assists per set, Izzy Starck, sealed the set 25-20 with a solo block.
Maryland looked to become just the third team this season to take at least two sets off Penn State. Bryant helped with that on the first point – meticulously hitting one into the middle of the court that fell just between multiple Nittany Lions.
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Both offenses had their highest hitting percentages in the third set as the intensity ramped up – Maryland hit .306 while Penn State hit .273.
Gunter remarkably dove across the court for her eighteenth dig to extend a point, and Sam Csire finished it a few shots later with a laser-quick shot deep across the court that the Nittany Lions couldn’t touch. The play was representative of the entirety of the match, where multiple Terps stepped up throughout.
But Penn State went on a 5-0 run to steal the lead late in the set. With the Terps looking to save a third straight set point, Schnitta drilled a serve into the net to seal the set 25-23 for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State remained steady early in the fourth set — a 15th Jess Mruzik kill put it up five and prompted a Maryland timeout. After twelve points, the Nittany Lions were in full control with a gaudy .778 hitting percentage for the set.
Schnitta dove but was unable to return a Mruzik serve over the net, giving Penn State a 16-9 lead and full command of the set. Camryn’s fifteenth kill of the match, a monster spike, gave the Nittany Lions the set 25-16 and sealed the match.
“We call it like dirtying up the match,” Hughes said. “We just want nothing to be clean, nothing to be easy. I thought we did that and came up a little bit short, but I’m pretty proud of the effort.”
