Maryland volleyball drops season opener in five sets vs. Coastal Carolina

Photo by Grayson Belanger/Maryland Athletics

In Maryland volleyball’s lone prior matchup against Coastal Carolina, the Terps won in five sets with four sets decided by four points or fewer. 

While Friday night’s season opener followed a similar pattern, Maryland (0-1) could not stop setter Jalyn Stout. The junior tallied 20 kills, 21 assists and 10 digs at the HTC Center in Conway, South Carolina, as Maryland fell 3-2 Friday night.

Emma Van Elslande opened the scoring with a kill for the Chanticleers, but the Terps bounced back to take a 3-1 lead. Right-side hitter Ajack Malual came out swinging, tallying two kills in the first eight points, working with attack and service errors from Coastal for a 10-7 Terps lead. 

The Terps continued to build off the momentum through the first half of the set, with the score sitting at 15-14 in favor of the Terps. Middle blocker Eva Rohrbach powered her way to a strong first set, tallying three kills, while defensive specialist Ally Williams accrued four digs. But the Terps’ biggest advantage in the opening set came via the Chanticleers as they committed six errors, allowing the Terps to secure the point.

Coastal Carolina opened set two with four consecutive blocks, jumping out to a quick 11-2 lead. The Chanticleers’ defense pestered the Terps all set, finishing with six blocks and forcing numerous service errors from the Terps. Offensively, Stout and Ava Wallis rallied off each other, racking up six kills and six assists each through the first two sets. Eleven errors plagued the Terps and their comeback chances, while the Chanticleers never let off the gas, taking down the Terps 25-15 and tying up the match at one set apiece.

The Chanticleers’ defensive blocks didn’t impact the Terps as harshly in the third set, while the Terps’ defense forced six errors. A 4-0 surge from the Chanticleers put them on top 23-20 off Van Elslande’s serves, but a kill and back-to-back aces from outside hitter Haley Melby tied the game once again at 23-23. 

The two teams traded set points, with outside hitter Olivia Ruy slamming two crucial kills to give the Terps a slim 27-25 victory and a 2-1 match lead. Setter Lilly Wagner’s assist count grew to sixteen, as Melby topped the match kill count for the Terps with eight through three sets. 

In the fourth set, Ruy continued to add to the Terps’ kill count, but the Chanticleers’ defense continued to hold firm and jump out to an 11-8 lead. The Terps headed into the mid-set timeout with a 15-14 lead, but more traded blows sent the set to an 18-18 tie. A crucial challenge of a Malual touch was upheld and kept the Terps in front, but Chanticleers’ Van Elslande recorded a kill and a solo block to bring Coastal Carolina in front 21-20. 

But two pivotal kills from Emily Fowler and Van Elslande flipped the momentum back towards the Chanticleers, giving them a 23-22 lead. Fowler dominated the last two points, notching two kills, forcing a 25-23 set victory and a fifth set. 

Stout began the fifth set for the Chanticleers with two kills and a solo block before securing her tenth dig. The dig secured her first triple-double of the season, a statistic she owns an NCAA record for. 

Despite the Terps bringing the match to a 10-9 score, the Chanticleers rallied with five unanswered points, winning the set 15-9 after a thunderous kill from Stout secured a 3-2 victory. 

The Terps will now look to North Carolina on Saturday at 1 p.m., to secure their first win of the 2025 campaign.