Maryland volleyball looked to get its season off to a hot start on the first day of the LSU Tournament. The Terps swept Troy in its first match of the day, before falling to LSU in four tight sets.
Match one: Troy
The Terps opened up the 2024 campaign with a dominant win, beating Troy in straight sets. Maryland has now started the season 1-0 for four consecutive years.
Back-to-back kills by middle blocker Eva Rohrbach opened up a tight first set, giving the Terps a 7-4 lead. The Trojans matched every mini-run the Terps went on before Maryland opened up a 17-10 lead. While Troy went on a late surge to bring the set back to a one point lead, the Terps closed it out, scoring two consecutive points and taking the first set, 25-22.
The second set started off with Maryland taking an early four-point lead, kickstarted by three early blocks. Once again, the Trojans hung around, keeping it around a three-point lead throughout the set. This time, though, the Terps opened up a big lead late and coasted to a 25-17 set win.
Knotted at four early in the third set, the Trojans threw the first punch of the third set with a 12-6 lead. A quick response by the Terps brought the score to 13-12, which they eventually tied up at 18. Trading points at the end of the set, the Terps went on a four-point spurt to close out the match, winning 25-21.
Troy was led by outsider hitters Tori Hester and Amiah Butler, combining for 26 of the Trojans’ 36 kills.
Pin hitter Samantha Schnitta finished the match with 10 kills and eight blocks, good for first and second among the Terps. Setter Sydney Dowler led the team with 22 assists and middle blocker Eva Rohrbach finished the match with 11 blocks.
Match two: LSU
The Terps lost their second match of the day, though, falling to LSU, 3-1.
The first set was a tight, back-and-forth affair as neither team could muster a big lead. With the score knotted up at 22, the Tigers scored the final three points of the set. Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson had consecutive kills before middle blocker Jessica Jones finished off the set with a kill, her lone of the set. Robinson led all players with eight kills in the first set, totaling 11 attempts.
With the second set tied up at four, Maryland scored eight out the next nine points to take a commanding 12-5 lead. The Terps kept the lead around seven throughout before the Tigers mustered up a quick run, winning four points in a row to cut the lead down to four. But Schnitta eventually closed out the set with a kill — her third of the Terps’ previous six points at that point — to win 25-22.
Just like the second set, the third set was knotted up at four early. A kill and service ace by Robinson, in addition to an attack error by Schnitta, opened up an 8-5 lead for the Tigers. Winning five out of the next seven points, including a service ace by Dowler, the Terps leveled the set up at 10. The match remained tight before LSU opened up a three-point lead and finished the set out with a Terps’ service error to win 25-20.
A quick 4-0 Terps’ run early in the fourth set was mitigated by the Tigers winning 16 out of 22 points. LSU hung on to win the last set, 25-20, led by seven kills for Robinson in the set.
Three things to know
1. Balanced offense. Dowler did a good job spreading the ball around in both matches. Two Terps finished with at least 15 kills over the two matches and outside hitter Sydney Bryant recorded eight kills in the second match.
2. Rohrbach continues to dominate at the net. Rohrbach led all players with 11 blocks in each game. After leading the team with 126 blocks last season, she has carried over her success to this season.
3. Robinson dominated the Terps. In the second match of the tournament, Robinson led all players with 28 kills, doubling the next closest player. She is arguably the best player in the tournament, coming off last season’s AVCA South Player of the Year award.
