The Terps dropped their third straight match.
Maryland volleyball looked to snap its longest losing streak of the season Sunday, but it found itself going against undefeated No. 1 Wisconsin.
Maryland trailed from the start, falling in straight sets (15-25, 12-25, 16-25) for the second time in its last three matches.
The Terps’ offense was stagnant throughout the contest, marking the second time this season that no Maryland player recorded more than five kills. Maryland finished with a .029 hitting percentage.
“There were things within the match that we [wanted to] have control over that I didn’t think we did a great job in. You know, attack errors, is probably the biggest one,” Terps head coach Adam Hughes said. “But it’s a hard situation. You try to find this balance of staying aggressive. You try to find this position where you’re trying to power through a little bit and you know, we can’t find good medium ground.”
Senior outside hitter Sarah Franklin, Wisconsin’s leader in kills, sliced up the Terps with 18 kills, her second-highest total this season. Franklin and 6-foot-9 middle blocker Anna Smrek combined for 29 kills.
“I mean, there are things that this Smrek kid does that, you know, there’s nothing you could do,” Hughes said. “… So I think that’s one thing that we haven’t done in the past is kind of letting those things get away.”
Miscues by the Terps added insult to injury, as their offense could not establish any momentum for a majority of the match. Maryland posted 20 attack errors.
The Badgers started out fast with a quick 5-0 run with back-to-back kills from Franklin. The Terps fought back, as a kill from senior outside hitter Sam Csire brought them within two.
However, the Badgers ran away with the first set after taking a 15-9 lead. Franklin recorded eight kills in the set — one more than Maryland as a team.
Wisconsin jumped out fast again to start the second with a 3-0 run.
Maryland remained within striking distance midway through the set, but after a 10-2 run that saw five Maryland errors and two more kills from Smrek, Wisconsin took it, 25-12.
Once again trailing in the third set, 13-4, Maryland produced a 7-1 run, its strongest offensive output of the day. But, trying to mount a comeback, Maryland was once again shut down.
The Badgers ended the set and match on an 11-5 run with four more kills from Franklin to earn the victory, 25-16.
Three things to know
1. Conference lows. Maryland’s 12 points in the second set were the second-fewest it has scored in a set in Big Ten play, and its 43 points are the fewest it has scored in a conference match this season.
2. Stagnant offense. Not a single Terp recorded more than five kills for the second time this season. Eva Rohrbach and Csire each had five.
3. Maryland’s defense didn’t help. Maryland, a team known for its blocking ability, did not record a single solo block and had just 12 block assists Sunday.