Preview: Maryland volleyball searches for first Big Ten win of season

Maryland volleyball (9-7) prepares to face off against Illinois (7-7) in a rematch of its conference opener against the Illini.

In its last time out, Maryland couldn’t pull off an upset against No. 3 Nebraska, dropping the match, 3-1. The Cornhuskers won the first two sets before the Terps picked up set three to avoid being swept. Nebraska clinched the match with a 25-22 win in the fourth set, keeping Maryland winless in conference play.

“We’re not really used to the schedule that we had when it comes to not [having] a win in the Big Ten so far deep into the season”, graduate student Rainelle Jones said. 

The Terps put the first points on the board of the match, and held a five point lead early, sending the packed College Park crowd into a frenzy. The Cornhuskers quickly answered back, going on a 9-0 run to take an 11-8 lead. Nebraska kept its lead until the end, winning the set, 25-18. 

Despite the loss, the Terps led in kills in the first set. 

Mirroring the first set, the Terps held an early lead in the second but Nebraska tied the set at six. Nebraska took the lead in the middle stages of the set but the Terps fought hard to cut the Cornhuskers lead to just one. Despite Maryland’s efforts to tie the match at one, Nebraska won the set, 25-23.

Nebraska led Maryland in total kills and held Maryland to a .029 hitting percentage. 

After a back-and-forth start to the third set, the Terps took the lead towards the middle and kept the lead the rest of the way, winning the third set, 25-21. Maryland’s third set victory forced a fourth set.

Maryland had a phenomenal hitting set, totalling fifteen total kills and a .175 hitting percentage. The Terps also outscored Nebraska in total assists.

Nebraska kept the lead well into the end of the fourth set Maryland went on an 8-1 run to tie the set at 22. With Maryland on the verge for another set comeback, Nebraska erased all hope for the Terps and fans in the stands, going on a 3-0 run to win the set, 25-22, and take the match, 3-1. 

The Terps ended the match with 43 kills, 36 assists, four aces, and outscored Nebraska in blocks by five.  The Terps were held to a .059 hitting percentage. 

Despite the loss, Maryland continued its streak of out-scoring its opponents in blocks. Junior Anatasia Russ was a big help, recording a career-high 11 blocks. Russ enters second in the conference in blocks (86), only behind Jones (104).

The Illini enter following a 3-2 loss against then-No. 8 Wisconsin. 

The nail biter of a first set resulted in Illinois winning the set, 27-25.  The second set was a different story as Wisconsin took the lead towards the middle of the set and kept the momentum the rest of the way, ultimately taking the second set, 25-20. 

Like in the first set, Illinois came out on top in a back-and-forth battle in the third, 25-22, taking a 2-1 set lead.

Illinois started the fourth set with the lead, 8-4, but Wisconsin gained control and never looked back, cruising to the 25-19 set win to force a fifth. Wisconsin won the set easily, 15-5, to clinch the match victory.

The Illini were held to a .139 hitting percentage and were outscored in total kills, aces, blocks and assists by Wisconsin.

Both Maryland and Illinois rank in the bottom-half of the conference in hitting percentage, assists and kills.

In the last matchup between Maryland and Illinois just a couple weeks ago, the Illiini defeated the Terps, 3-1. Maryland was outscored in points, kills, assists and digs as Illinois simply outplayed the Terps.

“I think the biggest mindset I’m trying to tell the teammates is to just have some fun,” Jones said. “I think that’s really important because we have the statistics, we know what to do, we have the research to win the game, it’s just the little tiny details … scoring those points and winning those games.” 

The match on Friday will start at 7 p.m. and will take place at the Xfinity Center Pavilion in College Park.