Despite Loss, Terps Inspired by Electric Home Crowd
10/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
By Michael Errigo
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The first point of the first-ever Big Ten volleyball game held at the University of Maryland came down to the ball rolling along the top of the net, as if on a knife's edge. Neither team near the front corner knew where the ball might drop, so it would surely result in a point. It could fall either way, there was no telling.
Fall one way and the raucous home crowd of 1,238, the Terps' highest home attendance since 2006, would explode, giving the team an early wave of momentum to ride. Fall the other way and Indiana would get the point, an opening tally they could use as a cornerstone of a statement game that said Maryland would have to work hard to earn a win in their new conference. Even amidst a record night in the XFINITY Center Pavilion, one that the volleyball players and coaches will surely remember for years to come, the ball chose to drop onto Maryland's side of the court, giving Indiana (11-4, 2-1 Big Ten) their first point in a 3-1 (15-25, 16-25, 33-31, 22-25) victory.
It was a thrilling performance from the Terps (7-7, 0-3 Big Ten) in front of their crowd, especially a third set that saw both teams trading spectacular plays back and forth and a deafening crowd that could not get enough of it. With every Terrapin point, those in attendance – including university president Wallace Loh, men's basketball head coach Mark Turgeon and a portion of his team – exploded with delight, some jumping, some dancing, all excited to have stumbled upon such an entertaining night.
“The crowd was amazing. We are so lucky to have them at a home game,” said junior outside hitter Emily Fraik, who had 8 kills and 12 digs on the night. “It was an unbelievable turnout. Not every program gets that kind of attendance and not everyone has the ability to put on a show for that amount of people so we were lucky tonight.”
The third set featured 18 ties and five lead changes before the Terps eventually captured the win. The team fought back against several match points to force a fourth set, providing the home crowd with more good volleyball to cheer for and a team that has yet to win a Big Ten match some more hope going forward.
“That's the importance of a home crowd, because if you play on a neutral court or you play on the road you probably roll over in three games and fold the tent,” said head coach Steve Aird. “But I thought they fought and I thought the energy was great.”
The team rode the momentum from the end of the third set deep into the fourth, forcing Indiana to call a timeout when the Terps went up 6-1, then again at 12-5. The lead grew to 16-8 before the Hoosiers went on a 10-2 run and put themselves right back in it.
“I'm not sure if we got too comfortable or what but the execution just fell,” said freshman middle blocker Hailey Murray, one of the game's brightest stars with a double-double (11 kills, 11 blocks) on the night. Indiana captured the set, and the match, on back-to-back kills, sending the Terps and their boisterous crowd home without a historic win.
The team had already dug themselves into a hole by getting off a sluggish start and dropping the first two sets, something Aird takes the blame for.
“I had three days to prepare them – it's on me,” he said. “I have to do a better job at getting them ready, getting them prepared and teaching them how to be ready from the jump. I've got to do a better job at being the head coach.”
But the team seemed to disagree, citing a lack of execution and team performance as the reason for their rocky start.
“It's a team sport and you can't have anyone that's having a rough night or making a play wrong. I think we just needed to be a little bit cleaner,” said Fraik. “[Aird] just takes the blame because he's a great coach and that's what great coaches do, and that's just the kind of person he is.”
Even if the players and their fans did not file out the XFINITY Center Pavilion with a win Friday, there seemed to be an electricity in the slightly misting sky. Whether it came from the passion for Maryland volleyball shown in the crowd or on the court, it was clear that the night was not a complete loss for the Terps.
“Hopefully people saw us tonight and they want to come back,” added Murray. “I'm going to look forward to playing at home for the next four years now.”
Michael Errigo, a sophomore journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com.
