Maryland volleyball falls to No. 19 Purdue in Big Ten opener, 3-1

With ten minutes until game time, the Xfinity Center Pavilion was rocking in anticipation of Maryland’s first Big Ten matchup. But once the match started, Purdue held control all throughout.

Maryland volleyball (10-3) entered its Big Ten schedule on a high note, but fell to No. 19 Purdue (7-3), 3-1.

Middle blocker Anastasia Russ was a game-changer at the net in the loss. She picked up some powerful kills that found gaps and fired up the home crowd. Russ finished the match with eight kills and four total blocks. She also continued her efficient season, hitting .400.

Outside hitter Sam Csire was off to a slow start but found her rhythm in the second set. Csire eventually put together another high-kill performance, ending with 11.

The Terps jumped out to an early 4-1 lead with kills from Russ and Laila Ivey. Then the Boilermakers woke up, as they quickly erased the deficit and put together a 4-0 scoring run, highlighted by a pair of kills and scoring aces.

A handful of Purdue’s kills came from light taps at the net as players found gaps in the Maryland defense. A few points later, Back-to-back Sydney Dowler blocks knotted the score even at 10.

The Boilermakers built up a slim 21-18 lead and ultimately pulled away due to multiple Terp errors. Three late-set attack errors gave Purdue a match point, and a block from Grace Heaney and Raven Colvin gave the Boilermakers a 25-20 first-set win.

“I don’t think we need to right the ship, I thought they were a good team,” coach Adam Hughes said. “I think we need to find some solutions to a few situations but overall it was a pretty good fight.”

A Eva Rohrbach block to start the second set put the energy right back into the home crowd. But that didn’t last long, as Purdue still mounted an early lead after a Maryland attack and service error, taking a 9-6 lead.

Eva Hudson carried the load offensively for the Boilermakers. The former Big Ten Freshman of the Year accounted for 20 of their 48 kills. Hudson delivered a huge kill to cap off a 3-0 scoring run midway through the second set, giving Purdue a 16-11 lead.

The Terps put together a 3-0 scoring run of their own to strike back, highlighted by a pair of Ivey kills. They strung together a 5-0 run later in the set that included two kills from Csire and another from Samantha Schnitta, eventually taking a 22-21 lead — their first since the beginning of the set.

But Similar to the first set, it was Maryland’s late set errors that changed the outcome. Tied at 22, two attack errors put Purdue at match point, and the Boilermakers ultimately ended the set with a Colvin kill.

“I thought there was a vibe change later in the second set.” Hughes said, “It felt like people were hoping not to make a mistake and not going out and making a play.”

Maryland’s offense came alive at the beginning of the third set. A pair of Csire kills and another from Ivey put the Terps up 7-3. They continued strong in the set in large part because of Schnitta; she made an immediate impact with three early kills. A long volley ending in another Schnitta kill put Maryland’s lead at 14-6. She finished the match with a team-leading 16 kills.

“I told myself ‘They don’t know my name, they don’t know who I am,’… lets see if they can stop me,” Schnitta said. “I took that aggression out there on the court and clearly they had some struggles with it … We work hard in that gym and we put in the work so we can push those teams back and we should push those teams back.”

The Terps’ offense clicked in the third set, hitting .371 with 19 kills. They were also able to limit the service errors, committing just one after committing three in each of the last two sets. Despite a late Purdue run, they finished the set on an Ivey kill, winning 25-17.

The Boilermakers locked in from that point on, opening the fourth set on an 8-0 scoring run, including three kills, two blocks and a service ace. A Schnitta kill finally snapped the run, but all the momentum still belonged to Purdue.

From there, the two sides continued scoring back-and-forth points. An attack error eventually put the finishing touches on a 25-11 Purdue win. 

Maryland will be back in action at the Xfinity Center on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Michigan, looking for its first conference win of the season.