EVANSTON, Ill. – Despite senior outside hitter Ashleigh Crutcher's match-leading 23 kills, the Maryland volleyball team narrowly fell to Northwestern, 3-2 (15-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 15-17) Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“I think we competed hard and we showed some improvements, but we're still making too many errors,” said head coach Steve Aird. “My job as their coach is to get the team to understand where the mistakes are coming from and how to improve. We need to play cleaner, but this was a great opportunity for us to improve from our match [versus Illinois], and I think we did that.”
Coming into the match, Northwestern (12-1, 2-0 Big Ten) had received votes in the last four AVCA weekly coaches' poll, and the Wildcats' lone loss of the season was to then-No. 15 San Diego. Northwestern is now 7-0 on the season at home.
“Northwestern is a fantastic team, and they're well-coached,” said Aird. “They've only lost one game this season, and it was to a ranked team. We knew this was going to be a difficult match to play on the road.”
The Wildcats took a decisive 25-15 first set. Crutcher recorded five kills for the Terps (7-6, 0-2 Big Ten) while junior libero Amy Dion had nine digs. Northwestern made a 4-0 run, allowed one Maryland point and then took a 6-0 stretch to extend its lead. Outside hitter Kayla Morin made five kills in the first set for the Wildcats.
Northwestern led early in the second set, but the Terps refused to back down. A Wildcat attack error tied the teams at 17, and Maryland got its first lead of the match off another attack error. The teams continued their back-and-forth play that would continue through the rest of the match before a Crutcher kill put the Terps up 23-22. A Wildcat ball handling error and Crutcher's eighth kill of the set gave Maryland its first-ever set win in Big Ten play.
The teams started the third set closely matched, but Maryland pulled away to take a 14-10 lead. Four straight attack errors from the Terps allowed Northwestern to tie again before two Wildcat errors and crucial kills from freshman middle blocker Hailey Murray and Crutcher gave Maryland the lead again. The Terps didn't give up the lead for the rest of the set, and while Northwestern came within a point, Maryland sealed the match point on its first opportunity with a kill from sophomore middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor.
With the match on the line, Northwestern hit .417 in the fourth set to tie, 2-2. Tied 14-14, the Wildcats tallied six straight points, four of them off Maryland errors. Northwestern allowed two more points before a pair of Terps' attack errors ended the set with a 25-16 advantage for the Wildcats.
The Terps and Wildcats both refused to relent in the fifth set as the game was tied 13 times and the lead changed four times. The set began with three straight service errors for a Northwestern 2-1 lead. Maryland was able to take the lead with two straight points from a Catie Coyle kill and a Northwestern attack error for a 6-5 advantage. The Wildcats managed to take the lead at the end of the set, 16-15, and were able to put away the match off a Maryland attack error.
The Wildcats were the fifth straight team the Terps have faced that was either ranked or received votes in the latest AVCA coaches poll.
Crutcher finished the match with 23 kills, just one off her season high. The senior notched 26 of the Terps' points.
“Crutcher has a fantastic arm, and what she's doing is developing the personality of a big-time player,” said Aird. “She's learning to take risks and be smarter, and when she's confident, those risks can really pay off. She works hard every day to improve, and she could have a really special year if she keeps pushing.”
Murray set a new personal best 12 kills, and hit .500 percent with just one error on 22 attempts. Dion notched 23 digs while sophomore setter Carlotta Oggioni had 23 assists.
The Terps return to College Park and host their first home matches of the season against Indiana Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 15 Purdue Sunday at 1 p.m. Maryland will hold an open practice for students Tuesday at 5 p.m.
