After falling at home to Northwestern and Iowa in five sets, Maryland volleyball looked to get its first conference win of the season Thursday.
But No. 3 Penn State presented the Terps with their toughest match of the season. Maryland could not rally behind a first-set win, falling to the Nittany Lions in four tight sets on the road.
This was familiar territory for head coach Adam Hughes. He spent nine seasons at Penn State (12-1) as the Director of Volleyball Operations and volunteer assistant early in his career.
“It’s always fun to come back to [Penn State] as someone who grew up here, this is my hometown,” Hughes said. “It’s a place I want to finally get my win, and I’m glad we cracked it a little bit. I wish we were able to pull it off.”
In the first set, an early joint-block from middle blocker Anastasia Russ and pin hitter Samantha Schnitta was quickly negated by consecutive points for the Nittany Lions. With the score knotted at two, Penn State scored five consecutive points, including a service ace from libero Ava Falduto and kill from middle blocker Maggie Mendelson.
Outside hitter Sydney Bryant kept Maryland (9-5) within five points after a block and kill. A Penn State service error sparked a four-point run for Maryland, including back-to-back kills from Schnitta and a kill from Russ, to cut the Nittany Lions lead to one.
Penn State outside hitter Jess Mruzik temporarily stopped the bleeding, before Bryant and Schnitta added kills and libero Lilly Gunter recorded a service ace. After calling a timeout, Penn State went up 17-16, with two kills from Mruzik. But two kills from Bryant were followed up by three errors from the Nittany Lions.
Trailing 22-18, Penn State scored three straight points, including a kill from outside hitter Camryn Hannah. Schnitta’s seventh kill of the set was followed up by a kill from setter Sydney Dowler, giving the Terps’ set point. The ensuing Penn State attack went straight into the net, and Maryland came out with a 25-22 opening-set victory.
“The mindset was to stay aggressive and we are going to pull this off,” Hughes said. “In the time-outs or breaks, the group was really steady and engaged. Everyone was really dialed-in. I think that was something that helped us move forward.”
Penn State got out to an early 3-2 lead in the second set, but Schnitta responded with a kill and service ace. Down 8-7, the Terps scored four consecutive points off a kills from outside hitter Sam Csire and Schnitta and Dowler a service ace.
Back-to-back kills from Mruzik and another from Mendelson helped the Nittany Lions level the score at 11. Quickly after, Penn State opened up a 15-12 lead with a kill from Hannah and joint-block from Mendelson and Hannah. But Schnitta notched a kill and service ace and Bryant added another kill, evening the score at 16.
The Nittany Lions responded with four of the next five points, including two kills and a service ace from Hannah. Middle blocker Eva Rohrbach hoped to spark a comeback with a kill, but two kills from Mruzik gave Penn State a set point. Freshman Izzy Starck closed out the set with a block, as the Terps fell, 25-20.
Maryland got out to an early 2-0 lead in the third set off a kill from Bryant and Schnitta. However, Mruzik added her ninth kill of the match and Gillian Grimes tallied a service ace.
Tied at 12, Dowler and Csire each recorded a kill, while Schnitta added two, pushing Maryland ahead by four. Penn State cut the deficit to one off a service ace from middle blocker Taylor Tramell, but Schnitta’s 15th kill of the match and a service ace from Dowler moved the score to 19-16.
Two kills from Hannah and a service ace from Grimes helped spark a five-point Nittany Lions run and near set point. Two consecutive points from the Terps wasn’t enough, as Schnitta put a serve into the net, giving the Nittany Lions a 25-23 third-set victory.
In the fourth set, a service ace from Mruzik helped Penn State get out to a 4-1 lead. Two joint-blocks from Tramell and outside hitter Caroline Jurevicius extended the Nittany Lions’ lead to six.
Schnitta then added two more kills to cut the lead to three, giving her 18 kills in the match.
Penn State responded with five of the next six points, including back-to-back service aces from Mruzik, putting the Nittany Lions up 19-10. Maryland never got within seven points the rest of the way, falling to Penn State in the fourth set, 25-16.
“It was a pretty good fight against one of the top teams in the country,” Hughes said. “One of the goals was to try and be as consistent and steady as possible. If they gave us a window, try to capitalize on it.”
Three things to know
1. Schnitta remains hot. The team’s leader in kills totaled a match-high 19 Thursday, but that wasn’t enough to pull off an upset. Schnitta also pushed her service ace total to 47, the most in the nation, after recording three against Penn State.
2. Defense on display. Maryland extended several rallies with diving plays in the back row. Gunter posted a match-high 19 digs, and Csire added 13. Penn State entered the match as the third-most efficient team in the country with a 32.3% hitting percentage.
3. Russ back in the lineup. The 6-foot-5 middle blocker returned to the court after missing the last two matches due to an injury. She made her presence felt early in limited minutes, finishing with four blocks and two kills.
