Maryland volleyball struggles in sweep defeat to Michigan State

Despite a back-and-forth third set, Maryland volleyball could not find an answer to Michigan State’s attack. The Spartans’ 41 kills and eight service aces made the difference in a three-set victory.

The Terps usually find success on their serve, averaging over 1.5 aces per set. Friday night was a different story. They only delivered one the entire match and committed ten service errors.

Its inability to win sets after building early leads led to a Maryland volleyball (15-10, 5-8 Big Ten) sweep loss to Michigan State (15-9, 7-6 Big Ten).

“The sport of volleyball played at the highest level doesn’t allow a lot of runs, you gotta be able to stop things and we weren’t able to do that,” coach Adam Hughes said. “When we weren’t getting aced we were passing pretty poorly and the ball was high and off the net … the best way to describe it is a football game where you’re always losing the battle of field position.”

The Spartans produced an onslaught of kills to open the third set as they searched to close out the match in three sets. They grew a 15-14 lead in the middle of the set, out-killing the Terps 10-3, but Michigan State’s nine attack errors kept Maryland in the set.

Defensive specialist Sydney Dowler put down a Terps’ kill to even the score at 20, erasing a 4-0 Spartans run. But that wasn’t enough as Michigan State went on another run to complete the sweep.

Pin hitter Samantha Schnitta was one of Maryland’s few bright spots in the match due to her consistent hitting. Schnitta led the team while accounting for eight of the team’s 26 kills, and also added three blocks and a dig.

Maryland opened the match hitting extremely well, collecting five kills on five attacks. Then attack errors erased the Terps’ lead. Michigan State went on a 7-0 run, with six of those points coming off errors. The Spartans flipped the script in the second half of the set and found success on the attack, going on to win the first set, 25-14.

Michigan State’s Amani McArthur was a force in the opening set — the fifth-year middle blocker put down five kills and a block in the first set while hitting .714. Hitting well was a constant for the entire Spartans offense in the set, as they ended the set hitting .370 with 14 kills.

Like the first set, the second set started well for Maryland. It opened the set on a 6-0 run that included three kills and two blocks. But also similar to the first set, Michigan State put together a push that erased the Terps’ lead.

The Spartans strung together another 7-0 run to kill Maryland’s momentum, fueled by service aces and kills. Karolina Staniszewska delivered three aces during the run, and Taylah Holdem delivered the set-ending kill to put Michigan State up 2-0. 

“We kind of just got into our own heads,” libero Lilly Gunter said, “They had a really great top-spin server but I think the challenge was trying to stay confident back there … we were just overthinking it.”

The Spartans then squeaked by the Terps in the third set, 25-22, securing the sweep.

Maryland will look to recover from the loss on Sunday to face Michigan for the second time this season. The Terps won the first matchup in three sets in September.