COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Maryland volleyball team defeated Michigan State in five sets tonight, earning the program's first win over the Spartans and winning its first Big Ten match of the 2019 season.

"I'm just really happy for the team more than anybody else," Head Coach Adam Hughes said. "I think we had some setbacks earlier in the year, but they continued to work, and I thought they created the opportunity for themselves by starting on time with the first set.

I think we came out and we were really good offensively. I thought both setters did a really great job balancing out the offense. I don't remember what we had but I think we had 14 kills or something like that in the first set, that was probably the highest we've had in a long time so it kind of set the tone there. It gave us some life and having a huge crowd again also played a huge factor in getting us into it and helping us get the fifth set win."

Katie Myers and Erika Pritchard led the offensive attack, finishing the match with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Myers was clinical at the net, hitting over .500 (.542) while also contributing a service ace and three blocks.

Allegra Rivas delivered the biggest serve of the season for the Terps, perfectly executing her serve at match point and securing the Maryland win in front of over 1,400 fans in the XFINITY Center Pavilion. Rivas was also phenomenal defensively, notching a season-high 27 digs while also adding a pair of service aces and assists.

SET-BY-SET

• SET ONE (UMD, 25-22) Maryland came out firing, jumping to an early 13-9 lead with an efficient attack that caught Michigan State by surprise. The set would continue to go back-and-forth, with neither team gaining momentum until late in the set when the Terps led 23-21 and forced a timeout, eventually earning the set win on a Katie Myers kill.
• SET TWO (MSU, 25-21) The Terps never necessarily got it going in the second set, leading only once early on. A five-point run by the Spartans got the ball rolling in their direction, and Michigan State hit as efficiently as they did in the whole match.
• SET THREE (MSU, 25-14) The Spartans got off to a red-hot start in the third set, quickly jumping to a 15-5 lead, capitalizing on Maryland attack errors while executing well offensively, and keeping it going until they led 2-1 in the match.
• SET FOUR (UMD, 25,19) In a do-or-die fourth set, the Terps performed in crunch time, jumping to an early 4-1 lead. Katie Myers and Erika Pritchard were excellent offensively, delivering a majority of Maryland's points and getting the Terps a needed set win.
• SET FIVE (UMD, 15-12) The XFINITY Center Pavilion was loud and on their feet for the fifth set, trying to fuel Maryland to its first win at home since beating Princeton on Sept. 14. Maryland got to the eight-point mark first, but allowed a Spartan rally and quickly trailed 9-8. The Terps capitalized on Michigan State attack errors and kills form Emma Schriner and Myers, before match point favored the Terps with Rivas at the service line. The rest is history.

UP NEXT

Maryland takes a Big Ten road trip to face perennial power Penn State (Fri., Oct. 11) then travels to Rutgers the following day (Sat., Oct. 12). Maryland returns home on Oct. 16 to face Indiana on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. in the XFINITY Center Pavilion. Tickets can be purchased here.