The Terps dropped to 2-2 in Big Ten play.
Coming off back-to-back conference victories against Michigan and Rutgers, Maryland volleyball entered Sunday’s matchup against Ohio State with its best start to conference play since joining the Big Ten in 2014.
Maryland shocked Ohio State last year when the Buckeyes were ranked No. 5 in the country, but on Sunday, Maryland fell in straight sets to No. 22 Ohio State (23-25, 22-25, 12-25).
“That’s probably the worst performance I’ve seen us have since I’ve been [here],” head coach Adam Hughes said. “I don’t think we were good in almost any phase of the game.”
The Terps committed a season-high 30 attack errors.
Despite that, Maryland never seemed to be out of the contest. Though the Terps only accumulated four one-point leads, they routinely went on runs to bring themselves back within striking distance.
Anastasia Russ, Sam Csire and Laila Ivey provided sparks on both sides of the ball, but Ohio State constantly overpowered Maryland’s starters in decisive points.
Freshman defensive specialist Jonna Spohn’s match-opening serve sailed over the backline and started an unfortunate trend of errors for the Terps.
A sloppy opening to the first set, Maryland and Ohio State combined for four service errors and seven total errors in the first nine points of the match. Maryland committed nine total errors in the first set.
“It was our errors realistically bleeding points to up their opportunities,” Hughes said. “We were looking for someone to turn the script and maybe make a play or two and every time we felt we were getting some momentum back [errors] happened.”
The match quickly became a duel of unanswered runs as the Buckeyes managed the first of the match, 5-0. Coming out of a timeout, Maryland then ripped off four straight points as Russ asserted herself with two kills and a block.
Both sides traded runs for the remainder of the first set. Maryland capitalized on some late Buckeye errors to go on a 6-0 run with Russ’ fourth kill, but her efforts were in vain as Maryland fell, 25-23.
Trailing 0-1, Maryland held its own against Ohio State to start the second set, with the score knotted up at 11. But the Buckeyes then ripped off a 4-0 run.
A dogfight ensued before a trio of kills from Russ, Csire and evened the score at 20. Trailing by just one, Ohio State outside hitter Emily Londot then recorded back-to-back kills to secure the set-two victory, 25-22. She finished with a match-high 12 kills.
“We knew she was going to get kills, she’s too good of a player not to,” Hughes said, “The goal is can you get her to hit some errors and get some points back.”
Ohio State dominated the third set, ripping off multiple runs en route to a 25-12 finish.
Three things to know
1. Schnitta had a quiet day. Samantha Schnitta has been the spark behind Maryland’s hot offense as of late having, recording a season-high 16 kills in two of her first three Big Ten games. The senior pin hitter recorded four kills Sunday and played in just two sets.
2. Errors negated momentum. From the first point of the match, errors were a problem for Maryland’s offense. While Ohio State did commit 13 service errors to Maryland’s seven, a majority of those came in the first set and was a primary reason the Terps trailed early.
3. Conference play lows. In addition to its 30 errors, Maryland recorded a -.098 hitting percentage Sunday, its worst mark in conference play this season.