Maryland volleyball loses in straight sets to Penn State

Maryland volleyball, coming off an exciting five-set home win against Ohio State, fell flat in State College, losing to No. 9 Penn State in straight sets: 16-25, 15-25, 16-25.

The Terps (11-6, 2-3 Big Ten) committed 21 attack errors, and no Maryland player recorded more than 10 kills. Emma Schriner led the Terps with nine kills and Rainelle Jones had six of her own. Allegra Rivas led Maryland in digs with 13; Nicole Alford and Abigail Bentz followed with seven each.

Maryland had a .030 hitting percentage and only had 24 kills as a team. The Terps also committed seven service errors and three blocking errors, both more than Penn State. Overall, Maryland had 31 errors to Penn State’s 22.

Maryland led once the entire match and was tied for only three points, all coming in the third set. Penn State (12-3, 3-2) had control the entire match and fed off their home-court advantage.

The Nittany Lions started the match on a 6-1 run, extending it to 12-5 after a 5-0 scoring run. They kept that seven-point lead, extending it to as large as nine points, winning the set, 25-16.

Sets two and three followed the same path. The Nittany Lions came out with energy and reflected on the big set wins. In set two, Penn State went on an early 9-0 scoring run to get out to a big 13-2 lead. Maryland responded with a 5-1 run of its own to cut the score to 14-7, then kept that margin at 17-10, but it was all Penn State after that. The Nittany Lions took the set, 25-15, getting out to a commanding 2-0 match lead.

Maryland looked more competitive at the beginning of the third set, taking an early 3-2 advantage before Penn State took control, going on a 7-2 run to take a 9-5 lead. An 8-1 run put them further in front at 17-8 and a 5-1 run later in the set sealed the deal as Penn State won the set, 25-16, and the match, 3-0.

Maryland will finish the back end of its back-to-back away game swing tomorrow night, traveling to New Brunswick to play Rutgers at 7 p.m. ET.