Maryland volleyball downs UCLA 3-1 for first in-conference win streak of the season

Photo courtesy of Ashley Ray/Maryland Terrapins

Up by one with match point coming for the Terps, freshman Katie Scherer served the ball into the left half of the set. UCLA handled the serve cleaning and played it back over to Maryland.

From there, Samantha Schnitta crushed the ball into the back left corner. UCLA handled the shot cleanly, but the dig caused confusion between two UCLA defenders, resulting in the ball hitting the floor and sending a packed crowd into a deafening frenzy.

The win marks the first time Maryland has won consecutive conference games all season and is the 100th career win for head coach Adam Hughes at Maryland.

Backed by resilient play and veteran leadership, Maryland (12-13, 3-11 Big Ten) downed UCLA (11-12, 5-9 Big Ten) 3-1 behind a packed crowd at the Pavilion on Friday night.

“I mean, we’ve been talking a lot about coming together and finishing strong because we did have a really tough stretch,” Zoe Huang said on the consecutive wins. “We were really emphasizing, coming together, and having a chip on our shoulder on Monday in practice, and knowing that these are all winnable games.”

On Thursday, the Terps ended their eight-game conference losing streak with a 3-1 win against Michigan State. Maryland carried that momentum into its first point, jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead. 

Schnitta carried her strong play from the Michigan State match into Friday, claiming three kills in the first six points of the opening set by blasting the ball through UCLA defenders.

She entered the match as Maryland’s leader in kills and the nation’s leader in service aces with 64 and continued her dominance in both categories against UCLA, racking up 22 more kills and three more service aces.

Backed by four kills from UCLA’s team leader — Cheridyn Leverette — the Bruins took the lead for the first time in the set, but the momentum changed shortly after.

With a 12-11 lead, Maryland sought to keep the Bruins from gaining any momentum. Numerous frantic sequences saw the Terps just get the ball over the net after multiple diving plays to prevent the ball from touching the ground. 

After a big combination block from Anastasia Russ and Sydney Dowler, the Terps carried the momentum, sparking two timeouts and closing the opening set on a 12-7 run.

Despite Maryland’s momentum swing, UCLA started the second set strongly, jumping out to a 6-0 lead thanks to two Maryland attacking errors and three kills from Leilani Dodson. This induced an early timeout by Maryland head coach Adam Hughes.

While Maryland showed resilience in the second set, tying the game twice, Dodson continued her dominance in the middle of the court, finishing the set with eight kills and two blocking assists. The graduate student’s middle threat helped the Bruins open shooting lanes at the end of the set for Leverette, who struggled in the set but claimed two of her three kills of the set in UCLA’s final two points.

“We knew their middles were going to be problematic,” Hughes said. “We did not have the solution for them, but I think they’re very, very good attackers.”

Despite losing the set, the Terps got excellent production from freshman Katie Scherer. The pin hitter took over for Sydney Bryant after Bryant suffered a season-ending injury against then-No. 11 Purdue. Scherer claimed a career-high ten kills in Maryland’s prior matchup and secured half of that total during the second set en route to a new career-high of 13 kills.

“I thought she had one good outing and then a not so good outing last week, and I think she learned from that,” Hughes said about Scherer. “She came back and had a great practice on Monday. It was a really good response just knowing that she was going to get back to business.”

Coming out of the break, UCLA got off to another strong start in the third set. But unlike the second, Maryland didn’t let UCLA’s lead swell, stopping the Bruins after an early 3-0 run to pull within a point. 

By keeping the set close, Maryland was able to pull ahead late, closing the set on a 9-2 run that saw kills from four different Terps.

For a third consecutive set the Terps fell behind in the fourth, but once again fought their way back into the set. This time, it came in a more familiar fashion. 

Heading into Friday’s match, the Terps lead the Big Ten in service aces, and in the final set, the Terps dominated from the service line. Three combined aces from Schnitta and Jonna Spohn allowed the Terps to gain their first lead in the set.

From there, Maryland’s veteran leadership took over as Schnitta and Sam Csire combined for six of Maryland’s final seven kills.

While not as flashy as Schnitta, Csire produced a consistent day for the Terps. The fifth-year senior entered second in kills for the Terps. Csire produced at least three kills in each set, resulting in a steady 14-kill outing. 

Maryland looks to add a third win in a row in Columbus versus Ohio State on Friday night.