Maryland volleyball quieted in 4-set loss to Northwestern

Already with a one-set lead, Maryland volleyball found itself up late in the second set.

But Northwestern surged back into the match, ending the set on a 7-1 run, which saw four kills and a block assist from graduate outside hitter Julia Sangiacomo. The Wildcats never looked back, winning the next three sets to take the match, 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 17-25, 20-25).

Sangiacomo was a thorn in the Terps’ side all night long, finishing with 27 kills.

“She was scoring in a variety of ways,” said Maryland head coach Adam Hughes. “High hands, down the lines, sharp crossed, off speed. She was impressive and got a lot of attempts where we were out of system.”

Less of an issue than Sangiacomo, Maryland continued to struggle with attack errors. It recorded 27 to Northwestern’s 19. The Terps also slashed a .155 hitting percentage, .080 less than the Wildcats, and were sub-.100 in the last two sets.

“I thought we got too tentative, you know, we’re trying to find a good balance of, you know, managing the game and trying to put people in pressure situations,” Hughes said. “The downside is when you do that sometimes you take a little too much to not enough risk.”

Maryland jumped out of the gates with a 5-0 run in the first set, forcing Northwestern to use its first timeout early.

The Wildcats could only pull within three before freshman defensive specialist Jonna Spohn delivered back-to-back aces to give Maryland a 18-12 advantage.

Not allowing any easy points, the Terps held on to take set one, 25-20.

The second set, though, belonged to Sangiacomo, who totaled eight kills in a 25-21 victory.

Maryland was initially in the driver’s seat with a 13-10 lead to start the third set, but the Wildcats ripped off a 5-0 run to take a 15-13 lead, their biggest margin of the night thus far.

Two kills from redshirt senior Anastasia Russ energized the Terps, but Northwestern ended any comeback hopes with a 7-1 run that saw four kills and a block assist from Sangiacomo.

Sangiacomo finished the set with seven kills as the Wildcats refused to relinquish their lead in an eventual 25-17 victory.

The fourth set was a back-and-fourth battle.

A kill from Russ capped off a 6-3 run for Maryland, but a Northwestern ace from fifth-year defensive specialist Gigi Navarrete, coupled with two Maryland attack errors, put the Wildcats up, 13-11.

Northwestern ended the set, and the match, on a 7-4 run that included four more kills from Sangiacomo, as the Terps fell, 25-20.

Three things to know

1. Sangiacomo was surgical. Sangiacomo’s 27 kills were the most the Terps have allowed to an individual player in Big Ten play this season. The graduate student recorded an incredible .328 hitting percentage on 61 total attacks.

2. Dowler was a bright spot. Despite the loss, senior setter Sydney Dowler recorded 35 assists and a season-high seven kills. She also managed a .462 hitting percentage, her third-highest mark of the season.

3. Maryland dropped below .500 in conference play. With the loss, Maryland fell to 3-4 in Big Ten play. With a matchup against undefeated No. 1 Wisconsin on Sunday, Maryland may struggle to climb back above .500 against conference opponents this season.