Maryland volleyball mounts thrilling comeback, downs No. 16 Minnesota 3-2

Staring at a potential second straight loss, Maryland volleyball rallied in the fourth and fifth sets to upset a top-20 opponent — one it had never beaten in its program’s history.

Led by Sam Csire — who had the definition of a bounceback game — the Terps (13-4, 3-2 Big Ten) secured their first ranked win of the season against No. 16 Minnesota (6-7, 2-3 Big Ten) in five sets.

Csire hitter ended with a season high 20 kills with a .232 hitting percentage and seven digs.

The fifth set ended on a Minnesota attack error that stood after a challenge.

“We worked on a lot of new things during practice last week and I saw them executed well,” setter Sydney Dowler said. “I’m just really proud of how much we grew and responded from a tough performance on Sunday.”

Following a sweep at the hands of Ohio State on Sunday, it was clear after the first set the Terps left their offensive woes in Ohio. As a team, Maryland opened the game hitting over .300 with 14 kills and a pair of blocks.

Senior outside hitter Sam Csire and redshirt senior middle blocker Anastasia Russ had the Xfinity Center Pavilion rocking early. Csire picked up the first two kills of the match, followed by another from Russ to give Maryland a 4-0 lead. Minnesota looked out of sync with a few communication errors on digs. It also had a plethora of serves fall short and hit the net, committing six service errors.

The Gophers began to cut into the lead thanks to Maryland errors. However, the Terps were able to lock in and finish the first set win on a Csire kill, her seventh of the set. Sophomore outside hitter Laila Ivey ended the set with four kills on a .429 hitting percentage.

Minnesota opened the second set with a 5-0 run which included four kills. This did not deter the Terps, as a 3-0 run capped off by a Samantha Schnitta kill gave them a 10-8 lead. The score continued to swing until back-to-back kills from sophomore outside hitter Mckenna Wucherer gave Minnesota a three point lead.

“We worked a lot on staying in our huddles and being more effective in there,” Csire said. “Today when they went on runs or we made mistakes we really talked in the huddle, ‘shake it off.’ That’s what we got to do in order to win and I think that was a big part of our starting strong.”

Coming out of a Minnesota timeout, Maryland put together another run capped off by a Csire kill. Ultimately, the Gophers took control of the back-and-forth set, ending it on a block that landed right in front of Csire.

The Terps gifted the Gophers a pair of points to open the third set after service errors that could not clear the net. Everything seemed to fall Minnesota’s way, as the offense perfectly placed balls on kills. A 4-0 run gave Minnesota a 16-10 lead as the energy left the gym.

Following a Maryland timeout, Minnesota’s offensive barrage continued. From this point, Maryland’s points came from dominant blocks at the net. A block followed by kills from Russ and Ivey gave the Terps some late life. A 5-0 run tied the game at 23 and brought the crowd back into it. 

The late run would not be enough as reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair ended it with a kill. Both offenses were sluggish during the set and hit below .100.

Facing another loss, Maryland came into the fourth set swinging. An early 6-0 run that included three kills and a pair of service aces put the Terps up by three. They would continue to ride this lead and get kills from a plethora of players, ending the set with a 25-21 win.

The Terps prevailed in the fifth and final set, winning 15-10 to claim a massive victory over a ranked opponent.

They will look to build on this win when they continue their homestand Saturday night against Indiana.