Maryland Volleyball falls to No. 2 Nebraska 3-1 despite stellar first set

Photo by Ashley Ray/Maryland Terrapins

It was only right that the Terps honored such a beloved senior class with the greatest spectacle of the season. 13,071 witnessed Maryland (14-17, 5-15 Big Ten) take a set from the second-best team in the nation.

But Nebraska (29-2, 19-1 Big Ten) didn’t take long to rebound from the first set, dominating Maryland in a 3-1 victory. The Cornhuskers’ block was seemingly unbreakable, forcing the Terps to negative hitting percentages in every set but the first.

Nebraska was coming off a loss to No. 4 Penn State on Friday, their only conference loss of the season, and needed a win against Maryland to claim a share of the Big Ten Championship.

After the head-scratching game-one loss, the Cornhuskers looked hungry for the conference title.

“We had a good crowd in front of us but knew we were going up against a very, very good team who needed a win to tie for Big Ten Championship,” coach Adam Hughes said. “So we knew that the task was gonna be high.”

Maryland’s season finale against No. 2 Nebraska marked its first match in Xfinity Center’s main gym since 2019. The audience far exceeded Maryland’s 10-year-old attendance record of 4,522.

As usual, the atmosphere in Xfinity Center did not disappoint.

A rocket serve from Samantha Schnitta, the nation’s leader in aces per set and program record-holder for single-season aces, drew “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd.

Victory at the service line has been a hallmark of the Terps’ success this year, and Maryland continued this trend in the first set.

Three timely aces, including two from defensive specialist Jonna Spohn who places sixth on the team in aces (14), outpaced the Cornhuskers at the end line.

While the Terps offense sputtered to begin set one, the defense clawed and scratched, keeping the set within reach.

The grand stage — facing the second-ranked team in the nation in front of a raucous, record-setting Maryland faithful crowd on Senior Day — seemed to energize the squad. The Terps showed as much resilience as they have all season after facing a five-point deficit.

Trailing 15-10 usually spells doom for Maryland, especially against a team as talented as Nebraska, but not tonight, not in the final game for seniors who mean so much to this program.

The Terps erased the lead, knotting the match at 17. But the Cornhuskers’ offense was still rolling, hitting over .300.

After a three-point run put them up 20-17, Nebraska uncharacteristically collapsed down the stretch. Six errors from the front row, setters and the service line, some caused by Maryland’s defensive pressure and others unforced, cost Nebraska the set.

Opportune kills from Maryland’s top-three outside hitters, Schnitta, Sam Csire and Katie Scherer, gave the Terps the push they needed to claim the first set 27-25. 

Nebraska’s Taylor Landfair hit a ball just barely out of bounds to give the Terps the set, and Xfinity Center erupted.

The excitement was unfortunately short-lived for Maryland, as the Cornhuskers snatched the match away in the second set and never let the Terps lay a finger on it again.

Over the next three sets, Nebraska far outmatched Maryland on both sides of the ball, outpacing them in just about every stat.

The Cornhuskers tallied 34 kills on positive hitting in that span, while Maryland managed only 16 kills on negative hitting.

Even when Nebraska hit .077 in the second set, easily their lowest hitting percentage of the match, they shut down the Terps’ front row and won the set 25-14.

The defensive clinic continued in sets three and four, but the Cornhuskers’ offense returned to form as well.

Nebraska hit over .300 in games three and four and netted a staggering 12 total blocks.

A telltale sign of Maryland’s struggles was its lack of production from the service line. The Terps were held to zero aces in sets two and three, and one service error, an unusually low number for an aggressive serving team like Maryland.

Hughes credits Nebraska’s passing prowess for forcing an adjustment in his team’s serving.

“They’re one of the best passing teams in Big Ten,” Hughes said. “So we knew we had to find that edge of how aggressive can we be versus giving up too many points.”

Setter Bergen Reilly finished with 43 assists and 14 digs for a double-double.

Struggling from the front row and the service line, Maryland failed to reach 15 points in sets three and four.

Only two Terps finished with a positive hitting percentage, setter Sydney Dowler, who only had five attempts, and Samantha Schnitta, who led the team in kills (9) but hit only .049.

For Nebraska, Merritt Beason, the first overall pick in the 2024 Pro Volleyball Federation Draft, turned in a masterclass. The senior outside hitter notched a match-high 19 kills on .559 hitting, and pitched in 10 total blocks for Nebraska’s second double-double of the night.