Maryland volleyball hangs on for dramatic 5-set win over Ohio State

Maryland volleyball defeated Ohio State in five sets in front of a packed house at the Xfinity Center Pavilion on Saturday night. The Terps won two sets, dropped two sets and held on in the fifth; the set scores were 25-22, 25-22, 15-25, 22-25 and 17-15.

It was a balanced attack from the Terps. Erika Pritchard led the team with 14 kills; Liz Twilley followed suit with 11, and Emma Schriner and Katie Myers had eight and seven, respectively. On the defensive side, Allegra Rivas led with 24 digs and Abigail Bentz had 12. Maryland had 10 total blocks on the night to the Buckeyes’ four, but a .158 hitting percentage and 22 attack errors nearly cost the Terps.

Vanja Bukilic led Ohio State with 19 kills, while Becca Maurer had 48 assists and 13 digs.

The Terps (11-5, 2-2 Big Ten) bounced back from a 3-1 home loss to Purdue, where they dominated in the first set, but faltered in the next three. Ohio State team has lost five of its last six matches to fall to 10-6 on the season.

In set one, Maryland started out similarly to its match against Purdue, winning 25-22. Maryland began the set on a 9-3 scoring run. Ohio State matched, going on a 9-2 run of its own to take a 12-11 lead. The Terps re-took the lead with a 6-2 run. The Buckeyes tied it back up at 14,but Maryland scored three straight to take a 20-17 lead, and finished the set off on a 3-1 run.

In set two, the Terps battled back from an early deficit to win by a 25-22 score again. Ohio State got off to a 9-3 lead and held firm, leading as big as 16-9 before Maryland went on an 8-1 run to tie the set at 17. The Terps outscored Ohio State 8-4 from there, including a 5-1 run to seal the 2-0 match lead.

Set three followed in the path of set two, but the Terps were unable to mount a comeback as the Buckeyes won, 25-15. Ohio State quickly got out to an 8-1 lead. Maryland cut it to as close as 12-8, but it was all Ohio State after that, finishing out the frame on a 13-7 run, including two 3-0 runs to cut the lead in the match to 2-1.

Set four fared similarly to set three, with Ohio State going on a big run and Maryland unable to mount a comeback as the Buckeyes won, 25-22. It was tied 6-6 when Ohio State went on an 8-0 run to take a 13-6 lead. They extended the lead to 20-11 before Maryland went on a 10-2 run to get within one at 22-21, but Ohio State closed the set on a 3-1 run, tying the match at 2.

In set five, Maryland jumped out to a big lead early, Ohio State fought back and the Terps pulled it out, needing a few extra points to get there. Maryland built an early 6-1 lead, only to be erased by a 9-2 Ohio State run as the Buckeyes went up 10-8. Maryland evened the score at 13 and had three set points, converting on the final one to win 17-15.

Maryland will travel to State College to face No. 9 Penn State on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. The next day, the Terps will be in New Brunswick to face Rutgers.