By Michael Errigo
The Maryland volleyball team's next match has been circled on the schedule for a long time. On Tuesday evening, the Terps take on fellow Big Ten newbie Rutgers in a nationally televised game that is expected to pack the XFINITY Center Pavilion to the brim.
The match has been heavily promoted all year in collaboration with more than 50 Greek life organizations on campus as part of Phi Kappa Tau's ΦKToberfest Greek Volleyball Tournament philanthropy. It also marks the first time the team will play on the Big Ten Network.
"The reality is that it's a big match and its national TV and it's going to be, hopefully, a great atmosphere," said head coach Steve Aird.
The Greek promotion will ensure a packed house Tuesday, but large crowds are something the Terps are getting used to. Their Friday match before Maryland Madness in the XFINITY Center had a crowd of 4,137 fans – the largest attendance in Maryland history.
“It felt really different because the people weren't on top of us,” said junior libero Amy Dion of Friday's crowd. “But it was great having so many people out there.”
The Tuesday scheduling will provide the Terps with a quick turnaround from this weekend's two match-ups against Michigan State and Michigan, a difficult but necessary facet of life in the Big Ten. Despite the limited prep time, the team feels it will be prepared to take on the Scarlet Knights.
"The coaching staff does such a great job of telling you the crucial scouting information over and over and over so that the only thing on your mind is the game ahead," said junior middle blocker Kelsey Hrebenach.
The players said they planned to start watching video and preparing for Rutgers immediately following the Michigan game Saturday, followed by some crucial practice sessions on Sunday and Monday.
"I am beyond excited [for Tuesday]. It's one of those matches where, if we work and compete and have the urge and determination to fight to win this game, we believe we can take it," said Hrebenach.
The match was moved last week from Ritchie Coliseum to the Terps' home court, the XFINITY Pavilion, in order to accommodate more fans. Shuttle buses will be provided by the team from fraternity row to the match.
Michael Errigo, a sophomore journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com
