With just a week until spring practice and training for the 2016 season begins, take a look back at Maryland volleyball's impressive 2015 season!
The Terps returned head coach Steve Aird, assistant coaches Adam Hughes and Kristin Kenney and director of operations Stephen Yates for their second seasons at Maryland. The offseason was exciting for Maryland as Hughes was honored as an AVCA 'Thirty Under 30' nominee, middle blocker Hailey Murray was selected to the Big Ten Foreign Tour team and the coaches announced the incoming class of freshmen. Seniors Amy Dion and Emily Fraik were selected as team captains.
After unveiling new uniforms, the Terps began the season on an 8-0 run, the team's best start to a season since 2005. Maryland moved to 10-1, matching 2014's season total. The Terrapins captured the Maryland Invite and DC Classic titles.
The Terps set the XFINITY Center Pavilion record for attendance in the team's Big Ten home opener vs. Illinois. The team hosted 1,752 fans in a packed Pavilion.
Maryland earned its first Big Ten win of the season on October 24 over Rutgers. Senior outside hitter Adreené Elliott and junior setter Whitney Craigo led the team in the victory. The team followed it up with a win over Iowa the following weekend, where junior middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor set a career high in kill
The Terps posted their most exciting win of the season in a three-set upset of No. 12 Ohio State on November 6. The win was Maryland's first over a ranked opponent since 2010. After the upset win, freshman opposite hitter Angel Gaskin earned Maryland's first-ever Big Ten player of the week honors, being named Freshman of the Week.
The Terps announced the class of 2016 signees on November 11. The class features Gia Milana, Katie Myers and Taylor Smith. The first phase of Maryland's signing class is already in line to be the highest ranked class in program history. Milana is the Terps' highest ranked recruit in history as she was named PrepVolleyball.com's No. 15 player in the class of 2016 and was an Under Armour First Team All-American. Milana was joined in the PrepVolleyball Senior Aces rankings by Myers, who is the 62nd-ranked recruit. Myers is also a third team Under Armour All-American. Smith rounds out the trio and was included in PrepVolleyball's 'The 150,' which lists the top players not ranked in the top 100.
Maryland ended the season with a pair of wins, finishing the season on a multiple-match winning streak for the first time since 2006. The Terps defeated Iowa in four sets on Senior Night before sweeping Northwestern in the season finale. Against the Hawkeyes, Adreeneé Elliott became Maryland's solo blocks record holder. The Terrapins reached five Big Ten wins on the season, surpassing 2014's total of three.
With the season over, the accolades began to come in. Adreené Elliott was named All-Big Ten, All-Region and All-America honorable mention. Future Terp Gia Milana was named Michigan's Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss Volleyball Michigan.
