Maryland volleyball swept by Illinois for fourth straight loss

Photo courtesy of Dylan Davies/Maryland Athletics

The Terps (10-9, 1-7 Big Ten) pushed two of three sets to the wire against Illinois (13-5, 4-3 Big Ten), narrowing each game within two points. In those clutch moments, Maryland failed to make the plays it normally would.

Maryland volleyball was swept by Illinois on Sunday, marking the Terps’ fourth straight loss.

The Terps’ block immediately looked much improved from their last few matches, totaling four blocks and putting pressure at the net.

Following a Friday loss to No. 16 USC, coach Adam Hughes acknowledged that Maryland’s lack of defensive presence at the net was an issue, but not necessarily a personnel problem.

“I don’t think it’s personnel-based, I think [the staff] has gotta do a better job putting them in place to make some plays,” Hughes said.

Sydney Bryant and Samantha Schnitta led the way for Maryland’s attack early on, but the Terps struggled with efficiency down the stretch and ended the set hitting sub-.200.

The first set ended up at 24 all after Raina Terry found an offensive groove and Illinois tallied a few key blocks.

Late in the set, a rocket serve from Brooke Mosher, one of the Big Ten’s top servers (fifth in aces per set at .54), was received well by Maryland. Handling serves like these from Mosher and Terry, the Terps were able to limit one of the conference’s best-serving teams in the first set.

The two sides traded kills to push the game to a tie at 26, then Maryland had some unforced mistakes to squander an opportunity to capitalize in the “red zone,” as Hughes calls it. Sam Csire and Schnitta, two of Maryland’s offensive staples, committed attack errors to give the Illini their final two points to seal the set 28-26.

The second set was defined by scoring runs from both teams but was decided by an early eight-point Illinois lead that killed the Terps’ chances of winning the set.

Maryland tried to claw its way out of the hole, cutting the lead down by a few points at times, yet it never surmounted the early deficit. When it narrowed the Illini’s lead to six points, Illinois struck back with a six-point scoring run.

The Terps took a final crack at Illinois’ lead with a five-point streak, but the same attack errors that plagued Maryland all set gave Illinois a 25-17 victory.

The Terps hit negative for the set, while Illinois hit over .400, largely because of the Illini’s dominant opening stretch.

Illinois’ block also came alive in the second set, with the team tallying six total blocks.

Set three seemed to mirror the first set, with both teams matching each other step-for-step. 

The largest deficit of the third game was four and the teams were evenly matched from the service line – five aces, zero errors for Maryland to four aces, two errors for Illinois – and on the block – with four total blocks for Illinois and three for Maryland.

The Terps struggled in serve receive in the second and third sets, allowing Mosher to spark a five-point run with three service aces in crunch time. 

Tied up at 23, it appeared there would be a second set going beyond 25 points, but the Terps repeated mistakes that have haunted them in the red zone this year.

The final three points for Illinois were a microcosm of Maryland’s struggles on the day—an attack error, a service ace for the Illini to set up match point, and a kill by Raina Terry, who finished with 15 kills on .464 hitting, to close out the match.

Despite what the scoreboard reads, Maryland kept pace with one of the better teams in the Big Ten for nearly the entire match. Those crucial moments where it fell just behind, and where it had struggled all year, decided the match.

“In some ways, I thought we played pretty well tonight, obviously not well enough,” Hughes said. “Just have to be a little more consistent human-by-human and overall.”