Maryland volleyball dominated in straight sets by No. 11 Purdue

Without outside hitter Sydney Bryant — its third-highest kills contributor on the team — and facing another ranked foe in No. 11 Purdue, Maryland volleyball faced a daunting task. The Terps needed someone to step up.

And freshman pin hitter Katherine Scherer did just that. She recorded a season-high seven kills, including three in the opening set. But her efforts weren’t enough, as the Terps were outmatched once again, falling in straight sets Friday night.

“I thought [Scherer] handled herself really well and that she had a good mindset going into it,” head coach Adam Hughes said. “The team also rallied after she got a kill. You could see the energy go up. It’s a good performance from her.”

Looking for its first signature win of the season, Maryland (10-12) returned home to take on the Boilermakers. With just one set victory over its past six matches, and sitting in a tie for 15th place in the Big Ten, the Terps couldn’t pull off the upset.

In a back-and-forth opening set, Maryland found themselves knotted at seven apiece early. A two-point surge from the Boilermakers was quickly negated by the Terps. Middle blocker Eva Rohrbach tallied a kill, while pin hitter Samantha Schnitta knotted consecutive service aces, adding to her nation-leading 58 aces.

Just as Maryland looked to have seized the momentum, it destroyed any hope of continuing the run with three attacking errors. Trailing 13-10, outside hitter Sam Csire got the Terps back on track with a kill, followed up by setter Sydney Dowler and Anastasia Russ teaming up for a block.

Leveled at 19 apiece, Purdue (16-5) went on a run off a Maryland service error and service ace from setter Taylor Anderson. But the Terps hung around, at least until middle blocker Raven Colvin tallied a kill and service ace to extend Purdue’s lead to three. With its back against the wall, Maryland went on a run. But it wasn’t a big enough one, and it fell, 25-23, in the opening set.

“We can take some confidence knowing we can hang around with those level of teams,” Hughes said. “We had an injury to a starter who has played every match, and we didn’t flinch.”

The Boilermakers sprinted out to an early 5-1 lead in the second set, after back-to-back kills from outside hitter Eva Hudson, an All-American second teamer last season. The Terps found themselves trailing by five just minutes later. But Schnitta inspired a run with a kill and service ace, while Csire and Rohrbach each knotted a kill.

Tied at 11 apiece, both squads traded blows before Purdue went on a six-point run off three kills from Colvin. The Terps hoped to get back in the set after consecutive kills from Csire, but the Boilermakers didn’t let that happen, responding with two points of their own.

Trailing 20-15, Maryland was unable to muster any sort of comeback, despite two late kills from Scherer. A kill from Anderson gave Purdue set point and middle blocker Lourdes Myers crushed a kill deep in the court to end the set, 25-20.

Maryland hung around early in the third set, finding itself tied at 10 apiece. Back-to-back kills from the Boilermakers gave them their biggest lead of the set. But the Terps quickly dwindled that lead away after kills from Dowler and Scherer.

Just like in the previous set, Maryland eliminated any sort of momentum Purdue hoped to gain. After Hudson gave the Boilermakers a two-point lead, Csire stuffed an attack from Colvin at the net, moving the score to 19-18.

Down one late in the third set, Purdue mustered up a three-point run off kills from three different players. And this run proved fatal, as the Terps were unable to respond this time. Maryland fell 25-20 once again, making it seven-straight matches lost.

“I’ve been in the Big Ten for a long time, and I’ve never been in a scenario where seven of eight games are against tournament teams,” Hughes said. “It is one of those challenges that we’re seeing now that we’re going to have to figure out the schedule and how to manage those times.”

Three things to know

1. Offensive woes continue. The Terps entered the match with the third-fewest kills per set in the Big Ten. This trend continued, as Maryland totaled 42 kills to its 15 attacking errors, hitting just 20.9%. However, some of these struggles can be attributed to the new rotations the Terps were forced to use after the injury to Bryant.

“I thought the group did a good job getting settled with a new lineup,” Hughes said. “They had about 60-75 minutes of practice yesterday to test out a lineup. Game one, we were all trying to figure out who was where and what rotations are going to look like.”

2. Efficient outing from Scherer. Having just appeared in five matches so far this season, Scherer looks like she has settled in just fine. On just 14 attempts, she posted seven kills. Scherer gave Maryland a glimpse of the future in her new role.

3. Difficulties against ranked teams. After its straight set loss to Purdue, the Terps have now fallen to 0-6 in matches against ranked squads. During those matches, Maryland has won just one set. The Terps have two remaining matches against ranked foes: No. 3 Penn State and No. 2 Nebraska.