Volleyball Prepares For No. 16 USC, Illinois

Friday, October 18

College Park, MD

7 PM

Maryland

USC

10/16/2024 2:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Live Stats Watch (USC)Watch (Illinois)

Maryland (10-7, 1-5 B1G)

vs.

#16 USC (12-4, 4-2 B1G)

October 18, 2024

The Pavilion

7:00 p.m.

B1G+

Watch Live Stats

Maryland (10-5, 1-3 B1G)

Illinois (11-5, 3-3 B1G)

October 20, 2024

Huff Hall

2:00 p.m. ET

B1G+

Watch Live Stats

COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Maryland volleyball prepares for its home and away series beginning on Friday, October 18. The Terps open the weekend against their third-straight ranked opponent in No. 16 USC at 7 p.m. in College Park. Maryland will then travel to Illinois to face the Fighting Illini on Sunday, October 20 at 2 p.m. ET.

Both matches will be broadcast on B1G+.

where we are

Maryland own an overall record of 10-7 and sits 1-5 in the Big Ten after dropping a set of tough road contests against No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 14 Minnesota last weekend.
The Terps have been a dominant force from the service line throughout the season and in conference play. Maryland averages 2.06 service aces per set, leading the Big Ten. It is the only team in the conference to average over two aces per set.
In addition to conference standings, the Terps rank tenth in the nation in serving. Samantha Schnitta leads Maryland with .84 aces per set, leading the NCAA for the third straight week.

Setter Sydney Dowler (8)Maryland Volleyball vs. Rutgers in the Xfinity Center Pavilion in College Park, MD on Saturday, October 5, 2024.Dylan Davies

Sydney Dowler and Samantha Schnitta against Rutgers (Oct. 5, 2024)

leading names

Schnitta leads the team in kills, averaging 3.57 kills per set in conference play. The graduate student has recorded 14 matches with ten or more kills. Behind her sits Sam Csire, averaging 2.82 kills per set.
Sydney Dowler has increased her presence on the court during Big Ten play. She leads the Terps in assists with 170 through six matches, including a season-high 38 assists against Penn State. On the season, Dowler has recorded an average of 5.88 assists per set.
Fifth year libero, Lilly Gunter ranks tenth in the Big Ten averaging 3.57 digs per set in Big Ten play. She has recorded double-digit digs in 13 matches at the midway point of the season. Defensive specialist Jonna Spohn has taken on a bigger role in Big Ten play and earned a few starts in recent matches. She has recorded 25 digs across six conference matches, including a season-high nine against Iowa.
Eva Rohrbach leads the Terps in blocks with 62. The sophomore averages over three blocks per match against conference opponents.

Lilly Gunter

series history

Friday's match will be the sixth all-time meeting between USC and Maryland and the first since the Trojans joined the Big Ten conference.
This is the first time Maryland is facing one of the four new conference opponents this season.
USC leads the series 4-1 with Maryland's win coming in 2017, where the Terps took a 3-0 victory over then-No. 18 USC.
Sunday's contest will be the fifteenth meeting between these squads. Maryland has never beaten Illinois in program history.
Illinois narrowly won the most recent meeting in five sets last season in College Park.

VB vs. USC (Sept. 14, 2017) on xfinity center court

Maryland vs. USC on XFINITY Center Court (Sept. 14, 2017)

scouting report

No. 16 USC sits 12-4 overall and has started conference play 4-2, with wins over Ohio State, Michigan, Minnesota and UCLA.
The Trojans are a strong blocking team, ranking second in the conference averaging nearly three blocks per set.
Ally Batenhorst leads the Trojans offensively with 237 kills and ranks ninth in the Big Ten averaging 3.76 kills per set. Mia Tuaniga sits ninth in the Big Ten in assists per set with 9.79.
Gala Trubint and Tyrah Ariail lead the defense with digs and blocks. Leah Ford ranks third in Big Ten play averaging 1.53 blocks per set.
Illinois owns a 11-5 overall record, as well as a 3-3 conference record. It picked up wins against Northwestern, Michigan and Michigan State.
The Fighting Illini rank similarly to Maryland in kills per set (12.44), assists per set (11.32) and match the Terps in blocks per set (2.29).
Illinois is one of the top serving teams in the conference - ranking only behind Maryland with 1.85 aces per set. Setter Brooke Mosher and outside hitter Raina Terry own 34 aces on the year.
A few notable names for Illinois include Terry and Mosher for their offensive production and libero Christina Martinez Mundo and middle blocker Ashlyn Philpot on defense. Terry ranks fourth in the conference in kills with 260.
Illinois will face Indiana on Wednesday before Sunday's matchup.