Maryland volleyball swept by No. 11 Purdue for seventh straight loss

Photo courtesy of Dylan Davies/Maryland Athletics

Maryland (10-12, 1-10 Big Ten) fell victim yet again to late-game mistakes, even after consistently competing with one of the best teams in the nation.

Purdue (17-5, 8-3 Big Ten) swept the Terps in Maryland’s seventh-straight loss, capping a brutal stretch of seven consecutive top-25-caliber teams.

“I’ve been in the Big Ten a long time,” coach Adam Hughes said. “I’ve never been in a scenario where seven of eight games are against tournament teams.”

Coming into the match, Purdue’s block seemed like a daunting challenge for a Maryland team that struggled against elite defensive teams like Minnesota and USC. Yet the Terps found a way to hit around the block in the first frame, limiting the Boilermakers to zero blocks.

Katherine Scherer checked into only her sixth match of the season to fill in for the injured Sydney Bryant and did not disappoint.

Scherer picked up three quick kills, tied for second in the set only behind Samantha Schnitta, Maryland’s leader on the season.

“I thought [Scherer] handled herself really well, I thought she had a good mindset going into it,” Hughes said. “I thought the team also rallied a little bit after she got a kill or two, I think you could see the energy go up.”

The first set was also a tale of two Eva’s. Maryland’s budding sophomore Eva Rohrbach and Purdue’s solidified superstar Eva Hudson traded kills early on, but Hudson eventually pulled away, notching seven kills and proving why she’s the go-to hitter for one of the most potent offenses in the nation.

Coach Adam Hughes spoke about Purdue’s attack being special, in that they have “two guns,” Hudson and former number-one recruit Chloe Chicoine. The two guns came out firing in the first frame, combining for 11 of Purdue’s 14 kills.

Maryland kept the first set within reach until the end, staving off Purdue for two rallies after it fell 24-21. Yet the Terps faltered late in a competitive set once again, an unfortunate trend even against some of the most talented teams in the country, and dropped the set 25-23.

Hudson and Chicoine continued their dominance in the second set, combining for Purdue’s first seven kills on efficient hitting.

The Boilermakers took a quick 11-6 lead, but five straight points, including kills from Rohrbach, Schnitta, and Sam Csire, knotted the match at 11 and forced a Purdue timeout. 

A few points later, Purdue responded with a five-point run to put itself in front for good. The Terps reached 20 points again in the second set, but let Purdue get hot late and build enough momentum to seal the set 25-20.

Though Purdue recorded only two blocks in the second set, they amped up the defensive pressure. Purdue held Maryland to a sub-.100-hitting percentage, compared to the Terps’ .298 hitting in the first set.

While Maryland did a solid job at limiting Purdue’s efficiency (.255 hitting), the Terps were forced into too many errors to claim the set.

Game three was largely the same as the first set. Maryland was solid offensively, racking up 14 kills on .268 hitting, but Purdue was excellent, hitting close to .400 with 15 kills. 

The Terps once again reached 20 points in the set and never let Purdue run away with the set, but failed ever to gain an edge over the Boilermakers. The Terps only led once throughout the game.

The Boilermakers secured the third set 25-20 and the sweep to hand Maryland their seventh straight loss.

Throughout most of the match, Maryland was consistent on both sides of the ball, but could never step up and put together a run late in any set. 

Saturday against Indiana is the first of three straight games at home against opponents in the bottom eight of the Big Ten. 

Hughes maintained that the team’s mindset would not change entering this stretch, even after facing the best of the Big Ten.

“After the first week into the last four weeks, I think the lesson is that you gotta treat every game the exact same,” Hughes said. “I know that’s very cliche, but I think first week we would have loved to have gotten back.”

With these three games, the Terps have the chance to redeem themselves from their early conference play stumble and claim several key Big Ten wins.