Maryland volleyball defeats Indiana in straight sets

After a tough loss on Friday night at No. 17 Purdue, Maryland volleyball got back to its winning ways Sunday, sweeping Indiana in Bloomington with set scores of 25-21, 25-23, 25-16.

Maryland (13-9, 4-6 Big Ten) executed well on offense, hitting .306 with just 11 attack errors, one of its lowest totals of the season. The attack revolved around Erika Pritchard, who hit .354 with 20 kills and seven digs. Rainelle Jones had nine kills and Katie Myers had seven. Three Terps had double-digit digs in the match: Allegra Rivas led with 21, Hailey Rubino had 13 and Abigail Bentz added 10. Indiana (13-8, 4-6 Big Ten) hit just .144 in the match with 18 attack errors.

This is the first time that Maryland and Indiana have faced each other since former Maryland head coach Steve Aird left for Bloomington after the 2017 season. Aird recruited most of the Terps’ current roster, and Adam Hughes, Aird’s top assistant while he was in College Park, got the best of his former boss Sunday.

Set one started out even, but the Terps pulled away thanks to a late run and took the set comfortably. Maryland took an early 6-3 lead in the set, with Indiana coming back and tying it up at 10-10. The score stayed even until 13-13, when Maryland went on a 10-3 run that included six unanswered points to take a 23-16 lead. While the Hoosiers fought back to get it within three, Maryland held steady, winning the set, 25-21. The Terps dominated offensively, hitting .317 in the set to Indiana’s .143.

Set two was much closer, with Indiana having the lead for a good chunk of the match, but the Terps fought back and took the set. Indiana jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before Maryland went on a 4-0 run to tie the score. The score was tied until 14-14 when a 5-2 Indiana run gave them a 19-16 lead late. A 6-2 run put Maryland up 22-21 late and a 3-1 run gave the Terps the closet set win, 25-23, going up 2-0 in the match. Indiana improved on the attack, hitting .205 in the frame, but Maryland still dominated on offense, hitting .286 with 18 kills and four attack errors.

Unlike the first two sets, Maryland took an early lead in set three and didn’t look back. The Terps began the set up 7-2, then a 6-0 run put the Terps up 15-6, and Maryland held that large lead for the rest of the set. Indiana did cut it to 18-12, but a 4-0 Terps run put them up 22-12 and they coasted to a 25-16 set win. Maryland had its best attacking set, posting a .323 hitting percentage, while Indiana struggled, hitting .077, its worst set of the day.

The Terps finish their road trip Wednesday at Illinois at 8 p.m. ET.