Maryland volleyball falls to Ohio State in 4 sets

Maryland volleyball lost to Ohio State at home in four sets Wednesday night. The Terps fell to the Buckeyes for the second time this season, after getting swept in their first conference game.

The loss pushed Maryland to 17-14, with a conference record of 6-13. The loss at home was the Terps’ first to a team not ranked 10th in the country or higher. They have one more regular season game remaining Friday.

The Buckeyes, meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak. Two of those losses came against Iowa, who Maryland defeated in College Park on Nov. 17.

After two tough sets to start, Gia Milana came to life in the third. She ended up with 13 kills for the match, with a clip of .243. Hailey Murray also played incredibly efficiently, earning 10 kills with only one error.

Maryland struggled in the first set. The Terps led 4-1 early, but never again after that. Ohio State led 10-8, then went on a 5-0 run, from which the Terps never recovered. They simply failed to score, only earning half as many kills as the Buckeyes. Ohio State always seemed to find a hole in Maryland’s system, taking the opening frame 25-18.

After tying early at three to start the second, Ohio State went on another run, this time 6-0. The Buckeyes played extremely efficiently. As Maryland earned more kills to try to stay in the set, Ohio State avoided errors. After trailing 21-15, Maryland quickly closed in to make it 22-19 and forced a timeout. But the Terps scored only once more, before Ohio State finished the set 25-20 on a Maryland service error.

The third set was a story of streaks. The Terps fell behind 8-2 early, then battled back to make it 11-9. The Buckeyes went on a 4-0 run, but the Terps responded with six straight to tie it at 15. They finally took the lead at 17-16. The Terps finished on a 5-1 streak, taking the set 25-21.

The fourth set began close, with numerous ties. Ohio State finally pulled ahead to make it 14-10. The Terps closed the gap to one at 19-18, but it wasn’t enough. Though Maryland kept it close for the remainder of the set, but the Buckeyes ultimately won the fourth, 25-22.

Maryland finishes its regular season against Northwestern Friday.

Three things to know

1. Constant attack, few results. Unlike past games, Maryland did not rack up errors against the Buckeyes. The Terps attacked frequently, and simply failed to earn kills. They finished with 50 kills, but attacked 130 times, giving them a clip of .254. Ohio State finished with a clip of .330.
2. Continued service woes. Maryland earned three service aces in the first—two from Samantha Snyder and one from Samantha Drechsel. The Terps had three more over the rest of the match. They did have 14 errors, to Ohio State’s 8. The Terps had 12 their last game against Nebraska, and eight the first time they played the Buckeyes.
3. One regular-season game remaining. Maryland just has Northwestern left, whom they beat in five sets on the road in October. Maryland should be favored to win that game, and likely in less sets. The Terps have set themselves up well for a tournament run, as they entered this game ranked 47th in RPI, with strong performances against a few teams ranked close to them. Expect Friday’s game to not be the last of the season for Maryland.