By: Matt Germack
Late in the fourth set, Maryland went on a 6-2 run that forced Illinois, up two sets to one, to call a timeout down 23-20. The Fighting Illini calmed their nerves, came back on the court and recorded four straight kills to take the lead, before an Anastasia Russ attack error ended the final set 25-24.
This was a microcosm of a match in which the Terps got in their own way several times, but were simply outmatched against a dominant Fighting Illini offense.
Illinois came into the match without their second-leading scorer, outside hitter Jessica Nunge. This could have spelled disaster for a Fighting Illini team favored at home, but instead it led to the emergence of redshirt freshman setter Brooke Mosher, who played the frontcourt for the majority of the game. She recorded 14 kills, shattering her previous season-high of four.
Illinois started off hot on offense, opening the first set 5-1 off of five kills by junior outside hitter Raina Terry.
Maryland clawed back to make it 6-4 off of three kills, but Illinois kicked back into gear offensively, capitalizing off of back-to-back errors — one service by Sam Csire, one attack by Laila Ivey — that made it 8-4.
The Terps dealt with defensive struggles for the rest of the first set, allowing Illinois to finish it with a .414 hitting percentage. Maryland dropped the first set 25-17.
The Terps came out hot on offense in the second set, starting off 5-2 with Rainelle Jones leading the charge — she had an early block and kill.
Maryland began spreading the ball around offensively, jumping out to a 12-9 lead with six players recording kills. The Terps — who led the Big 10 in service aces in tournament play — finally recorded their first, courtesy of Laila Ricks. Maryland would finish the match with just 5 aces, The Fighting Illini called their first timeout down 13-9.
The Terps rode aggressive defense the rest of the way to a 25-18 second set victory. They totaled five blocks, and picked back up on offense with a .241 hitting percentage after hitting just .130 in the first set.
Maryland, technically sound through two sets, faltered in the third, recording six attack errors in Illinois’ first ten points and falling down 10-4. On the back of Csire — who recorded the Terps’ first three kills of the set and finished with six in total — they climbed back to make the deficit 14-10.
From there, the Fighting Illini dominated on both sides of the ball, receiving a lot of help from Maryland’s offense. The Terps hit a poor .000 with nine attack errors and two service errors. They closed in fitting fashion, with Csire committing the final attack error, dropping the set 25-15.
Both teams had strong offensive showing to open the fourth set. The Terps cleaned it up offensively, committing no attack errors until a Csire shot sailed left to put Illinois up 12-9.
Illinois outside hitter Raina Terry put on a show, tallying eight of her 20 total kills in the final set, including a beautiful attack that just narrowly made it inside the left line. Maryland stuck around, and with the set tied at 23, the Fighting Illini scored their final two points to put the Terps away.
The Terps played a hard-fought match against a favored opponent on the road, but missed many opportunities to put themselves in a position to win. They tallied just 9.25 kills per set, leading to their lowest single-match hit percentage of the season thus far at .131.
Csire, who won the Cavalier Classic MVP last season, led the team with 15 kills, while the nation’s leading blocker in Jones tacked on another eight blocks.
Maryland looks to bounce back against Indiana, as the Terps take on the Hoosiers at the Xfinity Center Sunday.
- Maryland volleyball swept by Indiana in second game of weekend homestand - October 7, 2023
- No. 8 Maryland field hockey falls to No. 6 Rutgers in penalty shootout, 3-2 - September 28, 2023
- Maryland women’s soccer stymied by No. 6 Penn State, 4-0 - September 15, 2023
