Maryland volleyball drops 3-1 matches against Indiana and Purdue

Indiana:

First Set: 

Maryland jumped out to a quick lead in the first set and never looked back. They kept Indiana at bay for the entire set, never letting their lead be cut to fewer than two points.

Adreene' Elliott continued to play fantastic volleyball. The outside hitter tallied five kills, including three straight at the end of the set to give the Terps a 1-0 victory.

Second Set:

Although the Terps cruised to a 25-20 victory in the first set, their momentum did not last long.

The Hoosiers quickly jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set. Three straight kills from Molly Waggoner led to a Terrapin timeout.

Back-to-back service aces by freshman Kelsey Wicinski and an attack error from IU closed the lead to 18-14. Indiana called a timeout, which was followed by a kill from fellow freshman Liz Twilley.

Wicinski served yet another ace following the Twilley kill and suddenly the deficit was only two points. Waggoner answered for Indiana, ending Wicinski's impressive service streak.

It was the first start of the season for Wicinski. Coach Aird made changes in the Terps alignment, giving Wicinski the start at libero. She went on to total 10 digs in the match, along with a career-high four service aces.

A kill from Elliott tied the two teams at 24, but it was followed by an Abby Bentz service error and an attack error by Hailey Murray. Indiana won the second set 26-24.

Third Set:

Three was the unlucky number for Maryland in the third set.

While the teams played evenly early, Indiana relied on three straight points at two different moments to win the set.

Twilley had a kill to tie the score at 12, but Indiana steered their ship in the right direction to take a 15-12 lead. With Elliott serving later in the set, Maryland scored five straight points and was ahead 20-18. The 20th point came on one of Twilley's 16 total kills.

Indiana would respond, tying the score at 20 and then taking the lead on a kill by Amelia Anderson. Murray tied the score at 21 for UMD and an IU service error evened the teams again at 22.

Indiana used its second three point spurt to close out the match from there. An Anderson kill and a service ace and kill from Megan Tallman gave IU a 25-22 victory in the third set.

Fourth Set:

Elliott stayed hot in the fourth set. She had three straight kills to give her team an early 5-3 lead. The set was competitive throughout, but it was Indiana who yet again used three straight points to gain the upper hand.

The score was 20-17 when the Terps began to make a comeback. Indiana was leading 24-20 but the team showed some grit as an Elliott kill at first match point made the score 24-21.

Waggoner had an attack error, and suddenly the Terps were within two points of the lead. The third match point was where the Hoosiers closed things out, with Waggoner powering home her 15th kill of the match.

Maryland lost the match 3-1.

Purdue:

Teams in the Big Ten will begin to learn the name Adreene' Elliott if they have not already. Elliott has been the main bright spot on a team that is struggling to win in conference play. Her dominance continued in Maryland's match against No. 18 Purdue.

Elliott ended the match Saturday night with a match-high 21 kills.

First Set:

Maryland controlled the first portion of the first set against Purdue. The team held a 12-10 lead with contributions from a variety of players. Ashlyn MacGregor, Angel Gaskin, Murray, Twilley, and Elliott each had at least one kill, making it tough for the Boilermakers to focus on stopping one player.

Two straight kills from Twilley gave the Terps a 14-13 lead. Purdue stole the lead and took a 15-14 advantage, but Twilley responded with a kill to even the teams at 15.

Maryland would not take a lead in the remainder of the set and Purdue went on a 4-0 run to win 25-19.

Second Set:

Elliott scored six of Maryland's first eight points to open the second set. Her six points included three of her career-high five service aces.

Maryland's largest lead of the set was seven points, which occurred three times -- the last being when Elliott slammed a kill through the Purdue defense, giving her team a 25-18 lead, and a second set victory.

Winning a set against a team like Purdue shows steps in the right direction for a team that has struggled against nationally ranked opponents all season long.

Third Set:

Building off the momentum gained in the second set, Maryland was able to remain competitive early in the third.

Wicinski set the ball for Elliott who tallied yet another kill, making the score 9-9.

Purdue responded well, taking the lead and never looking back. Despite back-to-back kills by Murray evening the teams again at 14, Maryland couldn't make the push they needed to take a lead.

The Boilermakers cruised following Murray's kills, stealing five of the next six points. They later scored four straight points to win the set 25-17.

Fourth Set:

Maryland showed toughness in the fourth set. The team quickly led 10-4 when MacGregor, Twilley, and Whitney Craigo joined together to block the attempt of Purdue heavy-hitter Annie Drews.

The lead was on the side of the visiting team for the majority of the set but Purdue was able to tie the score at 16, which led to a UMD timeout.

A service error followed by an attack error gave the Terps an 18-16 lead out of the timeout. If the team continued its strong play, they were headed towards a decisive fifth set. Unfortunately for Maryland, this did not come to fruition.

Drews tied the score at 19 with a kill, but was quickly matched by Gaskin. A service ace from Amy Dion gave the Terrapins a 21-19 lead. Every Maryland point was matched by the Boilermakers. Elliott gave her team a 22-20 lead, but a crushing service error by MacGregor gave Purdue a much needed point.

A rare attack error by Elliott brought the teams back even at 23 but back-to-back points from Purdue ended the match.

Thoughts:

There were signs of improvement this weekend, especially in their second match. Maryland played a ranked Purdue team tough. They were only a few mistakes away from pushing the match to five sets.

Elliott continued to impress, with 38 kills between the two matches. Wicinski played extremely well in her first two starts of her career, recording 22 digs over the weekend.

Setting, which has plagued the team all season long, showed signs of improvement. Craigo had a career-high 40 assists in the match against Purdue.

Although the team did not earn their first conference win, they played much better than they had in their first two Big Ten matches. If they can continue to build on their performances, they should be able to put together a respectable season.