Maryland (11-3, 1-1 B1G)
at
Rutgers (8-4, 0-2 B1G)
September 27, 2023
Jersey Mike's Arena
6:00 p.m.
Big Ten Network
COLLEGE PARK, MD — The University of Maryland volleyball team (11-3, 1-1 B1G) hits the road Wednesday for its first road matchup of Big Ten play, making the trip up I-95 for a 6 p.m. showdown against Rutgers (8-4, 0-2 B1G). The contest marks one of just two midweek matches for the Terps this season, and the first of two contests against the Scarlet Knights this season.
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The match will be played at Jersey Mike's Arena, and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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About Last Weekend
- In Maryland's first weekend of Big Ten play, the Terps split their contests against No. 19 Purdue and Michigan, dropping Friday's contest against the ranked Boilermakers in four sets and ending the weekend on a high note by sweeping the Wolverines in College Park.
- Senior pin hitter Samantha Schnitta came off the bench and made a major impact against Purdue, willing Maryland's comeback effort by tying her season-best 16 kills in just over two sets.
- In Maryland's outing against Michigan, the Terps picked up their eighth sweep of the season by tying a season-best 14 team blocks. Redshirt senior middle blocker Anastasia Russ had nine blocks alone, the most by a Terp this season.
- The Terps' victory over the Wolverines marked the first time Maryland has defeated Michigan in College Park in program history.
Maryland picked up its first Big Ten win of 2023 with a sweep over Michigan Sunday at the XFINITY Center Pavilion.
A-Russ Does It All
- Anastasia Russ has shone as one the most efficient hitters in the country and one of the most potent blockers in the conference as the halfway point of the schedule nears.
- Russ' blocking prowess was on display last weekend against Michigan, as she racked up a season-high nine total blocks. She currently ranks 54th in the country with 1.24 blocks per set.
- On offense, Russ possesses the second-best hitting percentage in the NCAA with an even .500 clip, recording 88 kills against just 11 errors on 154 attacks.
- In a season and a half at Maryland, the Pittsburgh, PA product currently owns a .367 career hitting percentage, the highest in program history.
Anastasia Russ (88) swatted a season-high total blocks as the Terps tied a season best with 14 total rejections.
Dowler On The Dish
- In five weekends of play, senior setter Sydney Dowler has proved herself to be one of the best setters in the Big Ten.
- Through the first weekend of Big Ten play, Dowler ranks third in the conference in assists per set, dishing out 9.96 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 2,779 entering this weekend.
Sydney Dowler ranks third in the Big Ten with 9.96 assists per set while recording at least 30 assists in 11 of her 13 contests this season.
The Right Engel
- Junior setter Erin Engel played a vital role in Sunday's victory over Michigan, dominating from the service line to help the Terps cruise to a big second-set triumph.
- With the score line at 15-12 in favor of Maryland, Engel's outstanding serving resulted in a 10-0 run to close out the frame, clinching a massive 25-12 win to put the Terps up 2-0.
- Engel served up a trio of service aces on the scoring streak, punctuating the run of dominance with a perfectly placed service ace on set point.
- Combined with a 3-0 run on her next rotation to serve in the third set, Maryland scored 13 consecutive points with Engel back to serve.
Erin Engel played a crucial role in Maryland's victory over Michigan on Sunday, notching three service aces as part of a 10-0 run to clinch the second set.
A Balanced Bunch
- Maryland's offensive efficiency has not been powered by one dominant force, but rather the contributions of a balanced offensive unit.
- Six different Terps have multiple matches with double-digit kills in just 14 contests, led by senior outside hitter Sam Csire, who has six such matches on the campaign.
- Any offensive player on the Maryland roster can step up and lead the offense, as shown by the seven different players who have led the team in kills in a match this year.
- The Terps have had at least two players reach double-digit kills in six matches and at least three double-digit killers in four.
- Additionally, for the first time in Adam Hughes' stint as head coach, Maryland had a match with four different Terps with double-digit kills against Utah Valley on Sept. 2 and a match with five different players who reached 10 kills against Coastal Carolina on Sept. 8.Â
Laila Ricks (left) and
Eva Rohrbach (right) are two of the seven Terps who have led Maryland in kills in at least one match this season.
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 .277 through their first nine matches, good for the third-best clip in the Big Ten and the 18th-best rate in the NCAA.
- In Maryland's contest against Le Moyne on Sept. 15, the Terps 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 second and 27th in the country in hitting percentage respectively, Maryland is the only squad in the country with multiple hitters who rank among the top 30 in hitting percentage.
With one of the hottest offenses in volleyball, the Terps rank 18th in the country with a .277 hitting percentage this season.
Gilli Gets The Start
- Freshman defensive specialist Alex McGillivray made her impact felt throughout the past weekend, adding a big back row boost for Adam Hughes' roster.
- The Solana Beach, CA native earned her first career starting nod Friday against No. 19 Purdue, picking up four digs and an assist.
- McGillivray followed up that performance by collecting a career-best seven digs in a victory over Michigan on Sunday.
Alex McGillivray has seen more court time in recent weeks, earning her first collegiate start in the Big Ten opener against No. 19 Purdue.
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 Scarlet Knights
- Rutgers enters the midweek matchup with an 8-4 record and needs just one more win to set the team's best win total since head coach Caitlin Schweihofer took the reins in 2020.
- The Scarlet Knights wrapped up non-conference play with an 8-2 record with one high-major victory over Virginia in five sets.Â
- In the team's opening weekend of Big Ten competition, Rutgers took a pair of sweep losses against ranked competition, falling to No. 15 Penn State on the road Wednesday night then lost their home Big Ten opener against No. 19 Purdue on Sunday.
- The team has had the most success on the backline and defending serves, as Rutgers ranks third in the Big Ten in service aces allowed per set and sixth in team service aces per set.
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.
