Maryland volleyball looked to bounce back from back-to-back straight set losses against ranked opponents. Another top-25 opposition was the Terps’ chance in a matchup against No. 16 USC Friday night.
But the Trojans dominated, defeating Maryland 3-0 at Xfinity Center for the Terps’ third consecutive lopsided defeat.
Outside hitter Jadyn Livings drilled a quick shot across the court that multiple Terps couldn’t reach to give the Trojans a rapid 5-1 lead. Back-to-back Leah Ford blocks extended that edge, prompting an early Maryland timeout.
USC’s early barrage continued.
Middle blocker Tyrah Ariail drilled an ace to extend the advantage to eight. The Trojans were tenacious, tracking down nearly all of the Terps’ spikes and converting at a high rate on their own. They hit .355 in the opening set as their offense came out aggressive.
“We have been able to dig earlier in non-conference and in the first couple weeks,” coach Adam Hughes said. “But the last two weeks, against more physical teams, we haven’t been able to find stops in that scenario.”
Sophomore Sydney Bryant crushed a spike down the right sideline to end a long point and start a Maryland run. It took advantage of errors to trim the deficit to six and cause a USC timeout.
[Maryland volleyball struggles to block, kill shots at the net]
But the Trojans responded with a strong run of their own. They closed the opening set 25-15 on an Ariail service ace that just stayed inside the baseline.
USC got off to an early one-point lead in the second set behind a block assist. It entered Friday second in the Big Ten in blocks, adding eight in a solid defensive effort.
The Trojans kept finding a way to track down Maryland’s spikes and turn points around. Setter Mia Tuaniga was at the forefront of that effort, consistently finding ways to set hitters in just the right spot. She finished with a game-high 34 assists.
USC remained in control over the rest of the second set. The Big Ten ace leader Samantha Schnitta recorded her first ace of the night midway through the second set to trim the lead to five, but her struggles overall — only recording five kills — limited the Terps’ offense.
One of Schnitta’s costly errors, a spike crushed well beyond the baseline, came as Maryland tried to mount a comeback late in the set. Back-to-back Livings blocks sealed the set 25-17 for the Trojans.
[Maryland volleyball loses to Minnesota, 3-0, for second consecutive straight-set defeat]
The score of the third set was even after service errors from both teams. Then Livings demolished a shot well wide of the court to give the Terps the lead.
“They’re a high risk, high reward team,” Hughes said. “Where they send it, and they might miss a bunch, but they might cause you some problems.”
But Livings responded with back-to-back kills to push USC ahead. Maryland kept it tight, evening the score at 11 on a Schnitta serve that the Trojans hit uncontrollably off the ceiling of Xfinity Center.
USC’s serving took a major dip — it had more errors in the third set alone than the first two. The Terps took advantage of those struggles to stay close, eventually evening the score at 20. A Csire kill gave Maryland a late lead.
Livings recorded a crucial ace to set the Trojans up with match point. The next point out of a Maryland timeout was drilled with a Livings serve that the Terps hit uncontrollably out-of-play to seal the set 25-23. Maryland has only had one win since September.
“We competed better in game three but lost the serve-and-pass,” Hughes said. “When you do that against a really good team, that makes the challenge that much higher.”
