Maryland volleyball defeats Rutgers in regular season finale, 3-2

On Maryland’s senior night, it was freshman Sydney Bryant who shined with a career high 18 kills.

Bryant had five kills in the fifth set — including the last two — to secure a comeback victory for the Terps.

Maryland volleyball (17-15, 7-13 Big Ten) defeated Rutgers (10-19, 2-17 Big Ten) in five sets in its regular season finale. The Terps were down 2-1 heading into the fourth set but played clean from there, committing just five attack errors over the final two sets.

The fifth set saw both sides trading kills until a Maryland 3-0 run forced Rutgers to call timeout. The Scarlet Knights put together a run of their own to tie the set at 10, but it was the Terps that ultimately pulled away with late kills from Anastasia Russ and Bryant.

“The group could have easily folded at that point [after set three],” coach Adam Hughes said. “[Bryant] gave us some coverage, she got some kills in big situations and let everyone else get back to ease.”

Four seniors — Sam Csire, Sydney Dowler, Erin Engel and Ricks — were honored before the match and each earned a spot in the starting lineup. The outside hitters — Csire and Ricks — combined for 11 kills, with Ricks notching eight and Csire recording three. Dowler scored in a variety of ways, adding two blocks, a service ace and 43 assists.

The first set saw back-and-forth kills with both offenses attacking efficiently. Maryland gained a 15-13 lead following a kill from redshirt senior middle blocker Anastasia Russ, forcing Rutgers to call timeout. The Scarlet Knights then regained the lead after the timeout on a 7-0 run that included four Terp attack errors.

Rutgers continued scoring, running away with a set one win. The Scarlet Knights hit .429 on the set with 11 kills on 21 attacks, while Maryland hit just .033 with nine attack errors despite hitting well to open the set.

The Terps bounced back in the second set, hitting over .300 and limiting their attack errors to just four. Bryant’s back-to-back kills pushed Maryland’s lead to 19-15. Bryant’s five late set kills aided the set two win.

Rutgers gained an early lead in the third set due in part to its net presence. Two blocks during a 5-0 run silenced the Maryland crowd as momentum shifted back to the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers continued to ride the momentum to eventually take the set, committing just one attack error in the process.

Middle blocker Tina Grkovic was a force at the net through the first three sets. The senior finished the night with 15 kills while hitting 370. Grkovic contributed to six of the Scarlet Knights’ seven blocks.

Similar to set two, Maryland put together a bounce-back set four and kept errors to a minimum. Rutgers threatened to come back until Maryland’s 5-0 run following a timeout forced a fifth set. The Terps hit .333 on the set with three attack errors and five blocks.

“I thought we passed a little bit better.” Hughes said, “I credit [that] to the staff. We made a bunch of subs and changes rather than going with what we were going with. We were looking to see if we could get a spark … when we passed the ball we were scoring.”

Maryland then rode the momentum, taking the decisive fifth set to close its season on a positive note. The Terps finished the campaign just above .500 at 17-15, a slight improvement after 2022’s 16-16 record.