Maryland volleyball falls short 3-2 to New Hampshire

Photo Courtesy of Mackenzie Miles/Maryland Terrapins

After LSU pulled off a reverse sweep against New Hampshire the day before, the Wildcats found themselves up 2-0 with Maryland nearly in the jaws of defeat. However, the Terps knew the match wasn’t over just yet.

A win in the third set sparked a comeback spearheaded by middle blocker Anastasia Russ and outside hitter Sam Csire that would see the match be decided in the fifth set.

Unfortunately for the Terps, New Hampshire (1-2) prevailed, winning the tiebreaker to hand Maryland (1-2) their second straight loss.

Efficient disciplined hitting was the key to victory early on for the Wildcats in a match with razor-thin deficits. New Hampshire’s two leading scorers, Meredith Hohnbaum and Rachel Grier, hit .297 and .429 respectively. The Wildcats’ offense was firing on all cylinders in the second set, as they hit an impressive .324.

Setter Zoe Huang was heavily featured in Maryland’s offense for the first time this season and certainly did not disappoint. In the first two games, Huang only appeared in one set each. Against New Hampshire, Huang recorded a career-high 29 assists with 12 digs, her first career double-double.

Maryland’s defensive presence at the net, however, came up short. The Terps recorded at least 20 blocks in their previous matches, with standout sophomore Eva Rohrbach stifling Troy and LSU’s offenses to the tune of 11 blocks in both games. 

Maryland was much less sturdy against New Hampshire, blocking only 10 attacks and surrendering a .224 hitting percentage to the Wildcats through three sets. Rohrbach and middle blocker Russ, a stalwart for the Terps’ defense, mustered only nine blocks combined.

Down 2-0 in the third set, Maryland leaned on its veterans to get them out of the hole. Russ and Csire did just that, accounting for eight of the team’s 13 kills in the set. Nine points were decided during service as well, with both teams exchanging both aces and errors.

Through a ground-out fourth set that saw a combined 17 attack errors and 20 blocks, the Terps squeezed by to even the match 2-2 and send it to a tiebreaker set. New Hampshire had an opportunity to close it out late, leading 24-23 on match point, but Maryland rattled off three straight points to survive the scare and continue the match. 

The Terps found themselves in a similar predicament late in the fifth set. Trading blows with New Hampshire the entire set, Maryland trailed 14-11 before a Sydney Dowler kill extended the match. 

The Terps hoped to string together just a few points to complete another comeback and hand New Hampshire a stinging defeat for the second day in a row. But a kill from Hohnbaum sealed the match.

Csire paced the Terps in kills as usual, finishing with 20, followed by Rohrbach with 11. Lilly Gunter led the team in digs, totaling 23. 

The team returns home to College Park next weekend for the Maryland Tournament. The Terps play Alabama A&M and North Texas at home, with a short trip to Washington, D.C. in between to take on American.