Terps Excited for Madness Atmosphere
10/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
By Michael Errigo
Rabid Terp fans seeking to kick off the Big Ten era of the men's and women's basketball legacy at Maryland Madness on Friday at 8 p.m. will first get an early taste of what the conference is really like as the Maryland volleyball team will take on Michigan State at 6pm in the XFINITY Center.
Last year's Madness, held at Cole Field House, had an announced attendance of 11,500. This year, especially as the ceremony heads back to the XFINITY Center, the volleyball team hopes to utilize this collaboration to show more fans what the squad has to offer and to get their first-ever Big Ten win against the Spartans.
“I wanted to, in my first year, see what if felt like to play in XFINITY,” said head coach Steve Aird. “The administration was excited about the idea and both basketball coaches have been unbelievable since my arrival and very supportive and professional. So all of that combined into getting this opportunity.”
The collaborative effort between the two sports is something Aird and his players see as an easy way to foster more fans and a stronger intra-program relationship. “Athletic departments are only as good as how much they want to help each other and how much they care about other programs and here they are very much behind what we are trying to do,” said Aird.
Support between the athletes in particular is not hard to come by as many of them are friends off the court. In Maryland's home opener against Indiana, the team had the support of the men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon and many of his players. Guard Dez Wells and forward Damonte Dodd were among a group of players who rallied the crowd in a close third set, cringing with every point lost and dancing ecstatically with every point won.
“It's awesome,” sophomore setter Whitney Craigo said of the support. “It really shows you that people care what you do and that your hard work is recognized. It shows you that the athletes aren't only about themselves, that we can support each other on and off of the court.”
Aird hopes that one day the volleyball team will have to consistently play on the main court because their attendance cannot be contained by the XFINITY Center Pavilion, the 1,500-seat complex the team currently calls home. While the Pavilion has provided some packed, rowdy atmospheres in the past, most recently in the Indiana match, the Terps now play in a conference that has led the nation in volleyball attendance for much of the last decade.
Maryland played last year before North Carolina's madness event, Late Night With Roy, and the players who were there remember it as a great experience, playing before a packed crowd that was ready to go crazy for just about anything. The team hopes to get that same atmosphere and to carry it over into the rest of their home matches.
“It would be really big if we won this game because, with this many people, even if they're not necessarily here for us, they could see it and it would encourage them to come to our games,” said sophomore middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor.
Adds Craigo, “I think we'll get to show people that Maryland volleyball is starting a new era.”
Michael Errigo, a sophomore journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com.
