Coming Up Aces

Samantha Schnitta peered out the window of her room at The Hotel, a 10-story, four-star luxury hotel partnered with the University of Maryland.  

She was admiring Maryland’s campus by herself when she locked her eyes on the “M” Circle — the traffic circle at the intersection of Campus and Regents Drive. Schnitta says she was in a “whirlwind” without her family from Overland Park, Kansas, there to accompany her. But she pictured herself on Maryland’s campus and realized she was in a special place.   

Although she was over 1,000 miles from her loved ones, Schnitta felt at home. 

“It made the decision easy,” she said. “The next day, I got to put on a jersey and take pictures. I felt like I was at home, and my coaches would take care of me. They have, and they've done a great job of caring for each and every one of us. We work hard for each other, and we work hard for the coaches. It all paid off.”

Schnitta, a graduate pin hitter for Maryland Volleyball, transferred to Maryland ahead of the 2023 season from Ole Miss. She subsequently set single-season career bests in almost every statistical category. 

Through 14 matches in 2024, the left-handed 6-footer is on pace for yet another career year. She already set new single-game career highs in kills (21), aces (7) and blocks (8). She even leads the nation in service aces (47) and aces per set (.87).  

“My biggest disappointment with Schnitta is I don't have her for four years,” Maryland head volleyball coach Adam Hughes said. “She has become our rock. She’s someone who is so stable, so consistent. It allows me to focus on pieces around her rather than where is Schnitta going to be on that day? She just treats herself like a pro.” 

Schnitta credits Maryland’s coaching staff as one of the biggest reasons she became a Terp. She also believes their investment in student-athletes significantly affected her growth as a player. 

“It was the coaching staff and the environment that was brought here,” Schnitta said. “And the way that they cultivate this relationship between player and coach. Our coaches here, Adam Hughes, Becca [Acevedo], Ryan Ammerman, even Kyle [Thompson], they do such a good job of just making you feel worthy. They care about you. They're going to do anything to get you to succeed with what your goals are as you win and as you compete in the Big Ten.”

Schnitta’s journey to Maryland wasn’t linear, though. She committed to Ole Miss at the age of 16. She was born and raised a fan of the Rebels, going to sporting events in Oxford as both her parents attended the school as student-athletes. Her father played football, and her mother played volleyball. When Ole Miss entered the picture, Schnitta says it was an easy decision to commit. 

The two-time high school All-American and Blue Valley’s record-holder in career kills, blocks, hitting percentage, digs and service aces committed under Ole Miss’ head coach at the time, Steven McRoberts. But concluding the 2019 season, McRoberts was let go after six years at the helm. 

Former Olympic libero Kayla Banwarth replaced him, but Schnitta still honored her commitment. Schnitta became part of a young 2020-21 Ole Miss team that particularly struggled to compete during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rebels went just 1-19 that season, but Schnitta was one of the team's bright spots. 

In her collegiate debut, Schnitta recorded 10 kills and 12 digs, becoming the first freshman to record a double-double in a season opener in over a decade. She ended her rookie year by starting in all 20 matches while finishing with a team-high five double-doubles and 28 service aces, the most by a freshman in single-season program history since 2008. Schnitta admits that her success as a freshman instilled confidence, but the team's struggles complicated things.  

“We were putting in the work in the gym, but it wasn't working out for us on the court,” she said. “We just continued to believe in each other and believe for ourselves. We were doing it for each other.”

The following season, everything came to fruition. Schnitta helped guide Ole Miss to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years. The Rebels went 21-9 (.700), achieving their best winning percentage in program history and its first 20-win regular season since 2013. But Schnitta appeared in 18 matches that year before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

Schnitta says her injury started with a concussion, referencing the association between brain and lower extremity injuries. She was practicing with the team in Tennessee ahead of their matchup with the Vols when she jumped to block the ball and landed on a teammate, tearing several ligaments in her ankle. 

A staple in Ole Miss’ lineup up to that point, Schnitta rehabbed and fully recovered ahead of her junior year. However, she made just four starts in 2022, and the team fell back into another losing season. She also felt the support she previously had from the coaching staff faded. 

“I think in my situation, especially, I didn't feel like I was believed in at that point,” Schnitta said. “I had fought for the team, I had worked hard and thought I had proven that I would run through a wall for anybody. I lost that support, and they never reassured me. … Without that support, as an athlete, that's really hard because you want to make your coaches proud, just like you want to make your parents proud. I think because of that, I began to lack confidence.”

The dynamic led Schnitta to enter the transfer portal, ultimately leading her to Maryland. Her confidence has since reached an all-time high, but one of her most glaring areas of growth since becoming a Terp is her ability as a server. 

For over five years, Schnitta alternated between practicing float and topspin serves. She added the topspin serve to her repertoire before entering college and utilized it sparingly while at Ole Miss. Schnitta brought the skill set to College Park, and she says Hughes brought it to the next level. 

Hughes previously served as the Director of Volleyball Operations at Penn State from 2010-13. During that time, he coached Micha Hancock, who became one of the best servers in the nation and the Nittany Lions’ all-time leader in service aces. Like Schnitta, she was also a lefty who utilized a lethal topspin serve. Hughes worked with Schnitta, emulating some of the things he and other Penn State staff taught Hancock, who later became an Olympic gold medalist. 

“That's who I had always looked up to with my serve,” Schnitta said. “Because he had the insight of what hers looks like, this past spring, he was like, ‘Let's try to work on some of the things we did with Micha and see how that works.’ It just took off, and it just worked.”

Schnitta has even developed as a leader of an already senior-led team. Many of her teammates consider her the “mom of the group,” referring to her as a caring person who’s always looking out for others. 

Hughes's story perfectly describes her as a leader. The Terps have a player development board where everyone evaluates themselves on different skill sets after every session. Just a month after transferring to Maryland, the coaching staff noticed that Schnitta was waiting to watch everyone fill out the board to see who gave themselves poor scores. She then reached out to those people afterward to help support them and see if there was anything she could do to help.

Coming to Maryland allowed Schnitta to unlock her abilities. It just took some belief, positivity and reassurance from coaches. Just as Schnitta knew she wanted to be a Terp, Hughes knew immediately that he wanted Schnitta to be part of his program.

“We had about a two, maybe two-and-a-half-hour conversation in my office, and at that point, I knew I wanted that human in my program,” Hughes said. “A lot of times, you feel like you're trying to explain what you have to offer. But I felt like I was really getting to know this human and doing it very quickly and at ease. I thought that would allow her to do the same thing when she came here with everybody else in the program.”