Photo courtesy of Ashley Ray/Maryland Terrapins
For the second straight game, Maryland volleyball (9-4, 0-2 Big Ten) found itself in a decisive fifth set against a conference opponent. The Terps suffered their second straight loss, this time against Iowa (8-6, 2-0) 3-2 on Saturday in College Park.
The atmosphere in the arena was present even before the game had started. Maryland fed off the home crowd’s energy and started the game with a lot of intensity. Something that coach Adam Hughes credited in the press conference after the game, stating, “It was really nice having a packed gym, and I thought it would be enough to take us over the top.”
After Friday’s game Hughes said they were ‘out scrapped’ by Northwestern, you could tell they weren’t letting that happen tonight. Diving all over trying to keep their points alive. Both teamwork and effort were a noticeable improvement from Friday’s effort.
The Terps started the first set strong, drawing out sets and executing strong attacks. But Iowa fed off of Maryland’s mistakes, causing it to lead for most of the first set.
But Maryland fought back – an impressive effort from Sydney Bryant with 7 kills on a .750 hitting percentage, and Eva Rohrbach with 3 kills on .500 hitting helped keep Maryland in the set, where it would eventually fall 27-25.
To start the second set the Terps took Iowa’s role and capitalized on errors this time to take a quick 10-4 lead.
Iowa took a turn in the driver’s seat, limiting mistakes and putting the ball in hard places for the Maryland defense. The Hawkeyes brought themselves back into a 12-12 tie.
Then Bryant took control back for Maryland with a nice pair of kills. That put the pressure on Iowa who started slipping.
Despite a good Iowa comeback effort, which put the set within 2 points, Maryland stayed strong and took the set 25-21. Bryant and Samantha Schnitta were key factors, along with Iowa mistakes.
The 3rd set started roughly the same as the second set did. Maryland started with a fast start before Iowa got its footing. The first 20 points of the set resulted in a 10-10 tie.
This set was destined to be a close one, with the largest lead belonging to Maryland at 8-4. Neither team could figure something out and start a big run.
Both sides practically traded points until the end when Iowa broke through and won three of the last four sets to win 23-25.
Iowa started the fourth set strong going 4-for-4 in kill attempts and going up 8-4.
Then Maryland put their foot down, trying everything to get ahead in the set. But Iowa wasn’t budging and wasn’t making mistakes.
Maryland would occasionally get a 2-point run, but it felt like every attempt would be retaliated back.
Until Maryland found itself down 18-20. Incredible plays by Schnitta, Rohrbach, Sydney Dowler, and Bryant got the Terps to take their first lead of the set. Everybody started contributing when it mattered, and they found themselves up 24-20.
Of course, nothing can come easy in Big Ten play, and Iowa struck back with a three-point run. But after a timeout Rohrbach reeled in the set for Maryland, forcing a fifth set.
For Maryland, this marked its second straight five-set game.
The 5th set continued as the rest of the game and was tight right from the start. Nobody could break ahead, with the biggest lead of the set only being two. Maryland was able to grind out a 12-10 lead until Iowa scored four straight. The Hawkeyes continued the comeback and won 15-13 with three of their last four points coming from kills.
Hughes talked about how they can’t seem to capitalize on opportunities in game fives, referring to Thursday’s game against Northwestern, and added “As the leader of the program I’m going to have to find solutions.”
When Hughes was asked about how it felt to play in and lose two five-set games he said, “It’s more tiring mentally than physically.” He said they went out there ready, and that they had a good day of film for today’s game, but losing two close ones like that hurt more than anything. He also mentioned that they could have had “a special season going” if they were able to close out these last two games.
Schnitta was everywhere in the fifth and racked up five points in the set alone. The senior finished the match with 14 kills and seven aces while Bryant led the team in kills with 24.
Hughes spoke on Bryant’s good game saying, “I went in the locker room [after the game] and told her, ‘You gave us a shot.’”
Looking forward, Hughes says that they are going to have to find a way to win games like these, noting that the conference is super competitive.
Maryland will try to bounce back from back-to-back heartbreaking losses when it travels to No. 4 Penn State on Thursday.
