Saturday is senior night for the Maryland volleyball team, as a season that has marked new beginnings for the program will end like any other: with the tough goodbye to senior teammates. This season's conclusion will surely contain a mix of emotion for the Terps as their pride and happiness in all the progress they have made this year will be contrasted by the graduation of four members of their squad.
Ashleigh Crutcher, Catie Coyle, Kaitlyn King and Nicola Ribisi will be recognized during Saturday's senior night activities, as head coach Steve Aird said he plans to do something special for the girls before and after Maryland's match versus Northwestern. Aird wants them to be recognized for their leadership on and off the court in a time of such transition for the program.
“Each of them have brought something different to the table that has helped the team and I think they'll look back in a couple of years and know that they were the start of what became – we hope – a highly successful program,” he said.
Saturday's match against Northwestern will mean a lot for the Terps season, giving the seniors a chance to go out with a signature Big Ten win. A victory against the Wildcats would be a nice bounce back from a close loss in Evanston, Ill., back in September.
“I feel like we have something to prove, especially with it being the last game,” said Crutcher. “Why not give it your all?”
The game will mark the end of a four-year Maryland career for all of the seniors, careers spent competing and learning in the ACC and later leading and guiding in the Big Ten. Outside one of the last in a long line of practices, Coyle reflected on those four years.
“Actually, I was just hitting against the wall thinking, 'I only have a couple more days of this,'” she said. “It doesn't feel real yet. The four years just flew by.”
All four of them came to the university from far-away places, each in search of a chance to receive a great education while also getting the chance to play the sport that they love. Ribisi, a California native, said her favorite part of the school is the Terrapin pride that permeates campus.
“When I first came here I was taken aback by how much pride this state has and now it's become a second home,” she said.
For players who each had their own unique experiences with the team and the university, their answers to what their favorite part of playing Maryland volleyball was stood strikingly similar. To summarize their responses, they love the pride and they love the people.
“We see our team as a family – we spend every waking moment together,” said Ribisi. “We definitely see each other as sisters and that's what I'll remember the most. Not the scores, not the practices but the relationships.”
“I wouldn't trade these girls for anything,” added Coyle. “We've become so close over these four years and I have no doubt that we'll remain in contact after this.”
“After this” will contain different things for all of them. They will graduate in the spring, each sporting different types of degrees and accolades, each searching for the next step to take. But not matter what they do or where they go, Aird hopes that Maryland volleyball will be a constant in their lives, a source of pride.
One of the goals is to be able to wear a volleyball sweatshirt in an airport and have someone say, 'Wow, that's a pretty good team,'” he said. “I hope they can be a part of that down the line.”
Michael Errigo, a sophomore journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com.
