Preview: Maryland volleyball to host No. 16 Minnesota, Indiana in pair of weekend matches

Maryland volleyball (12-4, 2-2 Big Ten) returns to College Park for another weekend homestand, taking on No. 16 Minnesota (6-6, 2-2) Friday and Indiana (12-5, 2-2) Saturday.

The Terps are coming off what coach Adam Hughes described as the “worst performance I’ve seen us have as a head coach” in a 3-0 loss at then-No. 22 Ohio State. The offense hit a measly -.098 percent with seven service errors and 30 attack errors. 

But Hughes believes that this was a one-time performance.

“There was an opportunity to win that match. I’m not expecting that to happen a lot but, there’s a chance maybe one or two more opportunities like that present themselves and we want to be better prepared for it,” Hughes said. “That’s what I love about the team, they want to be known for being resilient.”

The schedule doesn’t get easier from here, starting with ranked Minnesota. The Gophers are much better than their .500 record shows, having faced a grueling schedule to open the year. They faced six ranked opponents during non-conference play, picking up wins against then-No. 15 Baylor and then-No. 6 Oregon but losses to then-No. 7 Texas, then-No. 8 Florida, then-No. 5 Stanford, and then-No. 14 Creighton. 

Minnesota is led by outside hitter and reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair. This season, the redshirt junior’s seen a decline in kills per set and hitting percentage, posting respective numbers of 2.74 and .191. Despite this, Landfair is still a player to watch out for on the offensive side after she recorded 16 kills in a Saturday loss to Penn State.

“[We] focus on what shots make her exceptional or what is the one that gets her some easy points and how can you take away some of those things,” Hughes said. “The maturity of the program has got to the point where we are good about watching that and trying to get back to the execution on some things. When [Landfair] is on she’s someone who’s a game-changer.”

Indiana has also played some high-ranking programs this season, having lost to No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Nebraska. The Hoosiers will enter College Park on Saturday fresh off the heels of a back-to-back Friday at No. 14 Penn State.

The key to this team is serving and defense. Junior setter Camryn Haworth is one of the best servers in the nation. Her 0.72 service aces per set ranks first in Division I and she sits third in the Big Ten in assists per set, 9.84. Haworth has put together another great season coming off her 2022 All-Big Ten First Team selection.

Offensively, Indiana gets its kills from a plethora of players. Five players have over 100 total kills on the season. Junior outside hitter Mady Saris leads the Hoosiers with 144 kills and has been a contributor on defense with 59 digs.

The Maryland offense will look to answer after its rough outing at Ohio State. Friday’s start time against Minnesota is 8 p.m. while Saturday against Indiana is set for 7 p.m.