Preview: Maryland volleyball looks ahead to Michigan State and UCLA

Photo courtesy of Dylan Davies/Maryland Athletics

After a demoralizing 3-0 loss to Indiana, Maryland volleyball’s eighth straight defeat, the Terps (10-13, 1-11 Big Ten) take on two more below .500 conference foes.

Michigan State (8-15, 1-11 Big Ten), the only other Big Ten team with just one conference victory, visits College Park on Thursday at 8 p.m. and the Terps play UCLA (10-11, 4-8 Big Ten) on Saturday at 7 p.m. to round out this season’s matchups against Big Ten newcomers.

The Spartans’ lone victory in Big Ten play came as a shock when Michigan State came to Los Angeles and upset No. 16 USC in a five-set thriller. It marked the Trojans’ first loss of the season to an unranked team.

Apart from that win, the Spartans have had much of the same struggles in the powerhouse Big Ten as Maryland.

Both teams occasionally take sets from ranked teams and keep matches competitive for the most part, but never make a final push late in sets. Even the two teams’ stars are statistically similar.

Each squad has two outside hitters with over 200 kills. In total kills among Big Ten players, Maryland’s Samantha Schnitta (269) and Sam Csire (224) rank 14th and 22nd respectively, while Michigan State’s Akasha Anderson (272) and Taylor Preston (205) rank 13th and 26th respectively.

In Big Ten statistical rankings, the Terps and Spartans are within a few spots of each other in virtually every stat, apart from Maryland’s Big Ten-leading service aces per set (2.05). 

Other than a second match against Rutgers, whom Maryland already swept earlier this season, this is possibly the Terps’ best shot at picking up a crucial Big Ten win and building momentum.

While UCLA places in the bottom eight of the conference, their record fails to tell the whole story.

In terms of competitiveness, and perhaps talent, the Bruins are closer to the Big Ten’s top ten than any other bottom-eight team.

UCLA has given the conference’s best teams fits this season, pushing four top-25 Big Ten opponents, including No. 3 Penn State, to five sets and knocking off former-No. 24 Washington in four sets to eject the Huskies from the AVCA’s rankings.

The Bruins also beat No. 14 Georgia Tech in their season opener, making them the only bottom-eight Big Ten team with multiple victories over ranked opponents.

The Terps will look to get a second conference win under their belt in either game as they get forge forwards in the latter half of the Big Ten schedule.