COLLEGE PARK, MD - The University of Maryland volleyball team (10-2) hosts a two-match homestand to start off the 2023 Big Ten volleyball schedule this weekend. The Terps will open the weekend with a Friday night showdown against No. 19 Purdue that begins at 7 p.m. and finish with a Sunday afternoon contest against Michigan at 1 p.m.
Both matches will take place at the XFINITY Center Pavilion and stream on B1G+.
The WWWWWWinning Streak Continues
- Maryland enters the conference slate on its best run since 2021, winning six consecutive non-conference contests after a 3-0 weekend that culminated in the Terps winning the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic in Fort Myers, FL.
- The Terps rolled over Le Moyne in a sweep last Friday, posting the best hitting percentage during Adam Hughes' coaching tenure. Redshirt junior outside hitter Erin Morrissey led the squad with a career-high nine kills.
- In Saturday afternoon's showdown against FAU, Maryland earned its fourth consecutive sweep for the longest such streak since 2021. The Terps hit .308 to mark the first time in the Hughes era that Maryland has hit over .300 in three consecutive outings.
- Maryland faced a tough test in Saturday night's finale against Florida Gulf Coast, the reigning ASUN Conference champions, as the Eagles pushed the Terps to five sets after Maryland claimed the first two sets. In the fifth set, the visiting Terps held the lead for the entire frame, taking the final stanza 15-12.
- Senior setter Sydney Dowler earned the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic Most Valuable Player honors, while sophomore outside hitter Laila Ivey and redshirt middle blocker Anastasia Russ were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Maryland extended its winning streak to six matches with back-to-back undefeated weekends, sweeping Le Moyne and FAU then prevailing in five sets against Florida Gulf Coast.
1K for Sammy C
- In the midst of Maryland's weekend closer against Florida Gulf Coast, senior outside hitter Sam Csire became the 15th member of Maryland's 1,000-Kill Club with a finish early in the third set off a feed from freshman defensive specialist Jonna Spohn.
- Csire became the first Terp to reach the 1,000-kill milestone since Erika Pritchard accomplished the feat on Sept. 21, 2019.
- So far this season, Csire leads Maryland with 110 kills while recording four double-digit kill contests and a pair of double-doubles.
Sam Csire (44) became the 15th player in program history and the first Terp since 2019 to record 1,000 career kills.
A-Russ Hits Different
- With a high-powered offense alongside her, redshirt senior middle blocker Anastasia Russ has shone as the most efficient hitter in the country through non-conference action.
- Through 12 matches, Russ possesses the best hitting percentage in the NCAA with a .516 clip, recording 75 kills against just nine errors on 128 attacks.
- In just over a season at Maryland, the Pittsburgh, PA product currently owns a .366 career hitting percentage, the highest in program history.
Anastasia Russ (88) has hit .516 across all 12 matches this season, marking the best hitting percentage in the nation.
Dowler On The Dish
- In four weekends of play, senior setter Sydney Dowler has proved herself to be one of the best setters in the Big Ten.
- As Big Ten play begins this weekend, Dowler holds the conference lead in assists per set, dishing out 10.05 assists per set.
- The Sept. 5 Big Ten Setter of the Week is also on pace to become the sixth Terp in program history to record 3,000 career assists, as her total through three-plus years in College Park sits at 2,731 entering this weekend.
Sydney Dowler (8) dished out the most assists by a Big Ten player this season Friday against Coastal Carolina while recording 10.91 assists per set over the weekend.
New Kid On The Rohr-Block
- Freshman middle blocker Eva Rohrbach closed out non-conference play with one of the best performances of her young career.
- In Saturday's finale against Florida Gulf Coast, the San Diego, CA native recorded career bests with 12 kills and seven total blocks to help Maryland pick up the five-set victory.
- Entering her first Big Ten slate, the first-year star has started every match while averaging 2.18 kills per set with a .449 hitting percentage, the second-highest clip of any freshman.
- On defense, Rohrbach is a force to be reckoned with up front, leading the Terps with 1.31 blocks per set, the fourth-highest rate among all first-year players.
Eva Rohrbach racked up a career-high 12 kills and seven blocks Saturday against FGCU. Her .449 hitting percentage ranks second among all freshman.
Offense In Full Swing
- Maryland has been one of the hottest offenses in the country to start the season, thanks to a hitting efficiency that is among the best in the nation.
- The Terps are hitting .285 through their first nine matches, good for the third-best clip in the Big Ten and the 19th-best rate in the NCAA.
- In Friday's opener against Le Moyne, Maryland posted a .443 hitting percentage, the highest clip in Adam Hughes' tenure. Paired with the prior week's contest against Howard where the Terps hit .438, the Terps hit over .400 in back-to-back matches for the first time since September 2017.
- With uber-efficient hitters in Anastasia Russ and Eva Rohrbach, who rank first and 17th in the country in hitting percentage respectively, Maryland is one of just two squads in the country with multiple hitters who rank among the top 20 in hitting percentage.
With
Eva Rohrbach (17) and
Anastasia Russ hitting excellently through non-conference play, Maryland is one of just two teams in the country to have two players rank among the top 20 in hitting percentage.
Live Ammo
- Former NCAA Men's Volleyball National Champion and NCAA Most Outstanding Player Ryan Ammerman joined the Maryland volleyball coaching staff in May 2023.
- Ammerman joins the Terps' coaching staff after spending the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach for his alma mater, UC Irvine, coaching the men's team to the Big West Tournament title game.
- As a setter for the Anteaters from 2004-09, Ammerman led UCI to its first two NCAA National Championships in 2007 and 2009. In his final season, Ammerman was named AVCA First Team All-American honors while winning the NCAA Most Outstanding Player award.
- Ammerman and Maryland head coach Adam Hughes had overlap during their times at UC Irvine, as Ammerman won his second national title for the Anteaters while Hughes served as a volunteer assistant with the women's team between 2008-09.
Ryan Ammerman is in the midst of his first season as an assistant coach at Maryland following a stellar playing career in the collegiate, European and international circuits and seven years of coaching at the club and college levels.
Scouting The Boilermakers
- No. 19 Purdue enters the weekend with a 6-3 record after non-conference play, with half of those wins coming against ranked squads, as the Boilermakers picked up five-set victories over then-No. 19 Kentucky, No. 19 Marquette and No. 23 Kansas.
- Head coach Dave Shondell returned for his 21st season with all three of its All-Big Ten selections from its 2022 roster, which made the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Championships.
- On the attack, the Boilermakers have two of the top attackers in the country, with 2022 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Eva Hudson and top 2023 recruit Chloe Chicoine each ranking among the top 10 in the Big Ten in kills per set.
- The defense is led by a pair of Second Team All-Big Ten honorees, with middle blocker Raven Colvin ranking fourth in the conference in blocks and libero Maddie Schermerhorn placing third in the Big Ten with 4.32 digs per set.
Scouting The Wolverines
- First-year head coach Erin Virtue will begin her first Big Ten slate with a 2-7 record and a three-match losing streak.
- The Wolverines have role players into starting roles in the early going, as Michigan lost its top three kill producers during the offseason and have been without 2022 Second Team All-Big Ten libero Hannah Grant since the first weekend of the season.
- Offensively, Michigan has a balanced attack with five players over 60 kills in nine matches, led by outside hitter Kendall Murray, who has 87 kills.
2022 In Review
- Maryland finished the 2022 season with a 16-16 record, along with a 7-13 mark against the Big Ten.
- For the first time in head coach Adam Hughes' tenure, the Terps won seven games in the Big Ten in back-to-back seasons.
- One of the key turning points came when Maryland secured sweeps in three consecutive Big Ten road matches for the first time since joining the conference.
- Maryland's sweep streak was capped off with a dominant win at No. 9 Purdue on Oct. 16, marking the Terps first-ever top-10 road victory.
- The Terps scored their second upset win of 2022 at the XFINITY Center Pavilion on Nov. 18, with a 3-1 victory over No. 5 Ohio State, ending the Buckeyes' 14-match win streak.
