Washington volleyball’s Madi Endsley crushed a spike deep down the middle of the court on match point Saturday. Maryland’s back row sought to return the shot.
Junior Ally Williams dove but barely touched the quick shot, sealing the Terps’ sixth consecutive loss.
The Huskies repeatedly hit spikes off Maryland blockers, forcing the back row to dig balls all around the court to compensate. But the Terps couldn’t consistently achieve that, a continuation of their season-long struggles with digs.
“I thought we did a good job in [set] one of standing tall,” coach Adam Hughes said. “We want to find ways to get wins, and I think we’re capable of doing that here and just came up a little bit short.”
The inability to extend points proved fatal against Washington’s 33.1 percent hitting rate despite missing two starters. Huskies’ senior Sophia Tulino, who entered Saturday with just one kill for the season, notched nine. Endsley added 15 kills and hit over .300.
One of Endsley’s biggest shots came as Maryland looked to save set point in a back-and-forth third set.
The outside hitter dinked a shot down the right sideline that Maryland graduate student Samantha Schnitta sprinted and laid out for but couldn’t reach. The look hit the line and the Huskies won the set.
[Maryland volleyball relinquishes early lead, falls to Washington, 3-1]
Washington frequently located its hits in different spots in the court, which left the Terps’ back row vulnerable as they needed to guess on shot locations. Washington’s offensive dominance was monumental on key points. It recorded kills on all three set points it converted.
Fifth-year Lilly Gunter, who ranks 10th in the Big Ten for digs this season, secured a team-high 13 in the loss. No other Terp is in the conference top 50 in that category.
“I thought that the digs are probably more representative of the situation that we found ourselves in,” Hughes said. “I thought [Gunter] did a decent job, but realistically, they were just really good at finding high hands.”
Maryland’s defensive issues were also present in Friday’s loss to No. 10 Oregon, when the Ducks notched eight more digs than the Terps in a sweep victory.
Maryland experimented with changes to its rotation in an attempt to improve the defense, including increased playing time for Williams. The defensive specialist tied with Gunter on Friday for a team-best 12 digs.
“We actually changed the lineup a little bit to try to get her on the floor more often than she currently is, getting her into those three rotations where she’d be out there,” Hughes said. “She was just making plays by making good reads.”
[Maryland volleyball swept by No. 11 Oregon, 3-0, for fifth straight loss]
But even with Williams’ contributions, Oregon recorded 42 kills and hit over .300 despite its offense that’s near the bottom of the conference in kills this season.
Outside hitter Mimi Colyer led the Ducks’ attack with 20 kills on a season-high 50 percent hitting rate. The junior hit both short and deep shots to pressure Maryland’s back row to anticipate well.
Colyer crushed a shot off middle blocker Anastasia Russ on match point that the Terps’ back row didn’t track well beyond the baseline. The Ducks consistently hit off Maryland’s blockers, causing shots to ricochet and disrupt the back row.
“The one thing we also didn’t have an answer for was the outside,” Hughes said. “[Colyer] was scoring a lot from the back row and was doing it a variety of ways.”
Maryland’s back-row struggles from the weekend came in different ways — Colyer dominated on Friday while Washington used a series of contributors the next night.
The Terps need consistent help alongside Gunter for improvement. Otherwise, offenses will continue to thrive and make it tough for Maryland to secure wins after its struggles already have it near the bottom of the Big Ten standings.
