COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Despite
Hailey Murray's first career double-double and the Terps' highest attendance since 2006, the Maryland volleyball team dropped its home opener to Indiana, 3-1 (15-25, 16-25, 33-31, 22-25), Friday evening.
The Terps (7-7, 0-3 Big Ten) opened their home slate in their first season in the Big Ten with a bang as Maryland and Indiana played in front of 1,238 fans at the XFINITY Center Pavilion. The attendance mark is the highest for volleyball since Sept. 16, 2006, when 1,716 people watched the Terps take on UCLA.
“The student section was incredible, and the support from the community was incredible,” said head coach Steve Aird. “It may not have been the result we wanted, but the fans got to see an entertaining, hard-fought match.”
Murray's double-double came on 11 kills and 10 blocks. Through three conference games, Murray is averaging 2.42 kills/s on .375 hitting and 1.33 blocks/s.
The Terps and Hoosiers (11-4, 2-1) stayed close to start the match as there were seven ties and two lead changes in the first set. Murray made the team's first three kills, and alongside senior outside hitter Catie Coyle, made a huge block to tie the set at six. Senior outside hitter Ashleigh Crutcher, who lead the team with 13 kills, nailed a ball just inbounds to tie the set again at 12.
Indiana began building momentum off Terp errors, and finished the set on a 10-0 run to take the first game, 25-15.
The Hoosiers handled Maryland easily in the next set, taking the second 25-16. Crutcher made an incredible precision kill to give the Terps their 12th point and Murray and junior middle blocker Kelsey Hrebenach combined for a big block for Maryland's 14th.
Fueled by the boisterous crowd, the third set required 64 total points as each team had four opportunities to make the match point. The Terps and Hoosiers tied a total of 18 times in the third, and there were five lead changes. Sophomore middle blocker Chavi St. Hill made two assisted blocks early, and Maryland took a 12-8 lead off an Emily Fraik kill, forcing Indiana to take a timeout. The Hoosiers tied the set at 14 and regrouped to take a 23-20 lead.
Up 26-25, Indiana had the opportunity to close the match, but a Crutcher kill tied the set again. For the next six points, the Hoosiers scored first and the Terps would make crucial plays to even the set again. Maryland began setting up their own match points, just to have Indiana tie, before a Hoosier attack error gave the Terps the set, 33-31.
“The comeback in game three was pretty awesome,” said Aird. “I thought we fought and the crowd got loud.”
Early Indiana errors and kills from Fraik, St. Hill Murray and Crutcher put Maryland up 16-8 in the fourth set. The Hoosiers climbed their way back into the set, eventually tying at 20. With the game tied at 22, a Maryland error and two crucial Indiana kills sealed the 25-22 set and the 3-1 match victory for the Hoosiers.
Junior libero Amy Dion finished the match with 18 digs, while Fraik made 12. Sophomore setter Carlotta Oggioni dished 20 assists and sophomore setter Whitney Craigo made 17.
The Terps return to the XFINITY Pavilion Sunday at 1 p.m. to host No. 15 Purdue.