Preview: Maryland volleyball hosts Northwestern to begin Big Ten play

Photo courtesy of Dylan Davies/Maryland Athletics

Maryland (9-2) enters conference play with momentum – with an eight-game win streak, the Terps currently stand above powerhouse programs including No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 16 Minnesota and No. 20 USC.

On Thursday at 7 p.m., Northwestern (2-6) comes to College Park for Maryland’s conference opener. The Terps return home after going a perfect 2-0 in the UCF Tournament.

The first match against Nevada was a convincing sweep, but the Terps’ battle with UCF was perhaps their hardest-fought victory of the season. Maryland traded sets with the Knights to push the match to a fifth set, where the Terps edged out UCF by three points.

“We were able to get a really good road win against a Power Four team with a pretty good RPI,” Coach Adam Hughes said.

Samantha Schnitta and Sam Csire contributed double-digit kills as usual, but it was sophomore Eva Rohrbach, turning in one of her finest performances this year, who may have made the difference.

Veteran Anastasia Russ injured her ankle early in the match, piling on to an unfortunately unhealthy year for Maryland. Russ is now the fifth Terp sidelined due to injury.

“We’d like to be at full health, with five people out it’s pretty tricky,” Hughes said. “But we’re doing the best with what we got right now and I’m just proud the group has done so well with adversity.”

Rohrbach stepped in for the injured Russ and didn’t miss a beat. The middle blocker recorded 13 kills, trailing only Schnitta (16), and hit a team-high .600, while chipping in four blocks in the victory.

Heading into Thursday’s game against Northwestern, Maryland is tied for the second-longest win streak in the Big Ten, only behind Washington who has won its first 10 games.

Meanwhile, Northwestern started the season on a six-game losing streak, before snapping the rut with back-to-back wins over a struggling Northern Illinois squad. The two wins currently have it in a distant last place in the Big Ten, though the roster is experienced and the program has a solid track record recently.

The Wildcats have 10 upperclassmen on the roster, some of whom led them to a solid nine conference wins last year. Northwestern has also won at least seven conference games every year since 2021.

This is a roster and a program that clearly knows how to win against conference foes and knows how to rebound from this year’s rough beginning.

Northwestern will look to lean on their kill leader, South Florida transfer Buse Hazan, to turn the season around. The outside hitter easily leads the Wildcats in total kills (100), kills per set (3.13) and service aces (14). 

Hazan has not been the most efficient attacker, as she’s hitting slightly over .200 this year. Northwestern as a team is hitting sub-.200 on the season, a significant part of their offensive struggles.

Hughes described all Big Ten opponents as a unique challenge because of the programs’ familiarity.

“One of the things that’s a little bit challenging in Big Ten play is everyone has previous experience with each other,” Hughes said. “You know a little bit more about your opponents, but they know a little bit more about you.”

The Terps head into their match with Northwestern a perfect 5-0 at the Pavilion. With a home win over the Wildcats, Maryland can inch closer to the top of the Big Ten and to an undefeated September.