Maryland volleyball sweeps Ohio State on the road

Maryland volleyball recorded its second straight three-set win Saturday night at Ohio State, with set scores of 27-25, 25-23 and 25-12.

Maryland (17-11, 8-8 Big Ten) had a successful offensive attack on Saturday night, hitting .333 with 40 kills and nine attack errors. This was the first time in several matches that Maryland had single-digit attack errors. Erika Pritchard led Maryland with 14 kills and hit .314 in the match. Emma Schriner and Katie Myers followed with seven and six kills respectively. Hailey Rubino and Allegra Rivas led Maryland with eight digs each, and Nicole Alford led the team with 24 assists.

Ohio State (12-16, 3-13 Big Ten) struggled on offense, hitting .178 with 20 attack errors. Vanja Bukilic led the Buckeyes with 15 kills, but she also led the team with seven attack errors. They were also out-blocked by Maryland, seven and a half to two.

The Terps were coming off their first-ever road win against a ranked opponent on Wednesday at No. 15 Michigan. It was also Maryland’s first conference win against the Wolverines. Maryland looked to set a program record for Big Ten wins in a season with eight. Ohio State came into Saturday night’s match on a seven-match conference losing streak, its last win coming against Michigan State on October 14th.

Maryland looked to comfortably win set one, but a late Ohio State rally forced the Terps to win in extra points. Ohio State had an early 5-4 lead before a 4-0 Maryland run gave it an 8-5 lead. The Buckeyes retook the lead at 11-10 and the set stayed closed until Maryland went on an 8-3 run to get to set point at 24-19. However, Ohio State went on a 5-0 run to tie the set, but Maryland finished the set on a 3-1 run to win, 27-25. The Terps had a solid attack, hitting .351 to Ohio State’s .268.

Set two was just as close, but another late Maryland run gave the Terps a two-set lead. Ohio State got out to a 7-4 lead, but Maryland re-tied the set at 7-7. The Buckeyes re-took the lead at 11-8, but Maryland went on a 6-1 run to take a 14-12 lead. Maryland kept the lead at two and three points until Ohio State tied the score at 20-20. A 3-0 Maryland run put the Terps ahead 23-20, and the Terps avoided a win-by-two scenario, taking the set, 25-23. Maryland’s attack was even better in set two, as the Terps’ hitting percentage rose to .375, while Ohio State’s regressed to .242.

Maryland broke out from what looked to be another close set and commandingly put the match away in set three. The Terps broke out to an 8-4 lead early, increasing that to 13-8. The Buckeyes got it back to 14-11, but Maryland went on a 10-0 run to get to match point at 24-11, winning the set 25-12 and the match in a sweep. The Buckeyes collapsed at the end of the set, allowing the long run that put them out of reach of coming back. The Terps regressed offensively to hit .250 in set three, but Ohio State hit .000 with nine kills and nine attack errors, falling apart at the very end.

Maryland returns home on Friday for matches on back-to-back nights v. No. 3 Minnesota and No. 8 Wisconsin on Saturday.