Maryland volleyball downed in straight sets again to No. 11 Oregon

Trailing No. 11 Oregon 2-1 early in the opening set, Maryland volleyball looked to stay within striking distance and give itself an opportunity to come out with its first set victory in five matches. And the Terps got the run it desperately needed, scoring six consecutive points.

However, Maryland failed to close out the set.

After falling in four consecutive straight-set matches, the Terps were in dire need of a win in their first Big Ten West Coast road trip. But Maryland was unable to leave Eugene, Oregon, with any sort of progress, losing 3-0.

With the Terps up 6-2, defensive specialist Lilly Gunter recorded a service ace, the first of the match. Oregon, however, responded with two points of its own, cutting the Maryland lead to three.

But outside hitter Sam Csire and a couple errors from Oregon helped extend the Terps’ lead to five, 15-10.

“[Csire’s] been doing a really good job in practices, just dedicated to her shot selections,” Hughes said. “She’s not rushing a lot of decisions. I think she’s doing a good job of mixing and matching.”

Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu sparked some momentum for the Ducks with a kill, followed by three more points from her team moving the score to 15-14. Oregon got a short glimpse of a lead after another four-point run, but middle blocker Eva Rohrbach knotted the score at 19 with a service ace.

Aligning with Maryland’s recent struggles in terms of closing sets, the Ducks went on a late run to push ahead, scoring six of the last eight points as the Terps fell, 25-21.

Unlike the first, Maryland found itself down 5-3 in the second set. But a kill from outside hitter Sydney Bryant was followed up by a service ace from defensive specialist Ally Williams, leveling the score at five. Oregon pushed ahead, 11-7, after a three-point run from Ohwobete, who tallied two kills and a service ace.

The Terps responded to any blows from the Ducks, not letting them get the knockout punch. Csire and Schnitta kept Maryland afloat late in the set, tallying two kills apiece, while the nation’s leader in service aces, Schnitta, added another ace.

Down 21-18, the Terps rattled off five consecutive points, including a service ace from setter Sydney Dowler and joint-block from middle blocker Anastasia Russ and Schnitta. But Oregon closed out the set with five of the last six points. Ducks outside hitter Mimi Colyer added her match-high 13th during the run. Maryland fell, 26-24, in the second set.

“I thought we missed too many serves at really unfortunate times,” Hughes said. “We missed a serve at 23-22 and another one at 24-23. We were still offensively scoring and keeping us in it. But, you just run out of time against a really good team.”

Maryland opened the third set with three players teaming up for a block, while Russ and Bryant each added a kill. Williams tallied her second service ace of the match, helping push the Terps in front, 4-1. Oregon landed a punch early, though, scoring nine consecutive points.

Colyer continued her domination with three kills, pushing her total to 16 for the match.

Maryland scored two points off service errors from the Ducks, but redshirt freshman sensation setter Cristin Cline responded, pushing Oregon in front, 13-6. Rohrbach hoped to fire up the Terps with a kill and service ace. But Cline stopped any potential Maryland momentum with a service ace.

The Terps found themselves trailing 23-14 late in the third set. Two kills from Schnitta and one from Csire only served as consolation points, as Maryland lost, 25-17.

The Terps were stout defensively, tracking down all kinds of shots. Maryland had 48 total digs, led by double-digit performances from Gunter and Williams, who each had 12.

“I thought Ally played one of her best matches,” Hughes said. “She had a couple serving aces, and she was making some great saves. We changed the lineup a little bit to try and get her on the floor more often than she currently is.”

Three things to know

1. Late set struggles continue. Maryland had an opportunity to win both the first and second set. The Terps found themselves tied at 19 in the opening set and up 23-21 in the second set. But Maryland was unable to pull one out, pushing the set drought to five matches.

2. Serving issues on the road. In the Terps’ last three road matches against ranked teams, they have combined for 13 service aces and 27 service errors. For a team that is ranked seventh in the nation in aces per set, Maryland has been unable to use that to its advantage against good teams.

3. 1-8 in Big Ten play. The Terps find themselves tied for 15th in the Big Ten so far this season, only ahead of winless Rutgers. After going 7-13 in conference play for three straight seasons, Maryland hopes to pick up some wins and avoid its worst season since 2020, when it won five conference matches.