COLUMBUS, OH – Samantha Schnitta broke Maryland volleyball's single-season service ace record in a 3-1 win at Ohio State (25-22, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21) on Friday at the Covelli Center. The Terps (13-13, 4-11 Big Ten) have won three consecutive conference matches for the first time since the 2022 season. Maryland also won in Columbus for the first time since 2018.
The graduate pin hitter made history with her service ace in the first set to give the Terps an early 6-4 advantage. She entered the contest tied with Lynnsy Jones (2003) and recorded a career-high tying seven aces to increase her season total to 74 aces. Her mark also leads all NCAA Division I players. She added 18 kills and 15 digs to her performance, earning her 10th career double-double.
Schnitta's serve proved essential in the first set, as she recorded three aces in a tightly contested victory. Maryland dominated the second and strategically pulled away in the fourth sets after dropping the third.
Sam Csire added 11 kills, seven digs and two blocks. Freshman
Katie Scherer provided another exceptional performance, providing nine kills, four digs and two blocks. She fell just short of her third consecutive match with 10 or more kills.
Zoe Huang led Maryland with 20 assists, adding five digs.
Lilly Gunter led the team with 16 digs, adding eight assists.
Ohio State faltered to 11-14 overall and 4-11 in conference action.
Breaking Down The Action
Set 1: Maryland 25 Ohio State 22
- Samantha Schnitta recorded an ace to give the Terps a 6-4 lead in set one. The ace made her the program's single-season leader in service aces.
- Ohio State took the lead at 10-9 with a service ace.
- For the moment, Maryland sparked a brief 3-0 run to tie the game at 14 apiece. However, the call was overturned, and the Buckeyes led 15-13 at the media timeout.
- After the timeout, the Terps went on a 5-0 run to take an 18-15 lead. The Buckeyes subsequently burned a timeout. Schnitta tallied back-to-back aces to get the run going.
- Maryland closed out the set with a victory on an attack error by Ohio State.
Set 2: Maryland 25 Ohio State 18
- The Terps got off to a 4-1 lead with kills by Sam Csire and Schnitta.
- Maryland doubled its lead to 8-4 after an attack error by the Buckeyes.
- The Terrapins increased their lead to 15-10 after a kill by Eva Rohrbach.
- Ohio State took a timeout as the Terps led 18-13 and scored three of the last four points.
- The Terps closed out set two with a kill by Schnitta.
Set 3: Ohio State 25 Maryland 18
- The Terps trailed 8-6 to begin the third set.
- Maryland burned a timeout, trailing 12-8.
- A 3-0 scoring run by Maryland forced Ohio State to use a timeout. A kill by Katie Scherer and an ace by Schnitta had the Terps trailing 16-14.
- Maryland increased its run to 6-0, and back-to-back aces by Schnitta gave it a 17-16 lead.
- The Buckeyes closed out the set with an 8-0 run.
Set 4: Maryland 25 Ohio State 21
- A 7-2 run by the Buckeyes gave them an 11-7 lead, forcing the Terps to call timeout.
- Maryland tied the set at 12 apiece with a 4-0 run, forcing an Ohio State timeout. Schnitta had three kills in the run.
- A small 3-0 run gave the Terps a 20-17 advantage. Csire and Scherer both notched kills, giving them double-digit kill totals.
- The Terps strategically pulled ahead and scored the game point on an attack error.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Samantha Schnitta holds the program history for single-season aces with 74.
- 3: Katie Scherer recorded her third career game with double-digit kills.
- 3: Sydney Dowler ranks third all-time in assists for Maryland. She now has 3818 assists.
- 3: The Terps won their third consecutive conference match.
- 4: Sam Csire is fourth all-time in program history with 1420 career kills.
- 7: Schnitta recorded a career-high-tying seven aces in the match.
- 10: Schnitta recorded her 10th double-double of her career and third of the season.
- 16: Schnitta tallied 10 or more digs for the 16th time in her career and the fourth time in 2024.
- 51: Schnitta has 51 games in her career with 10 or more kills as a Terp, including 18 this season.
- 74: Schnitta tallied seven service aces in the match, bringing her to 74 on the season, ranking first in NCAA Division I.
- 74: Csire has 74 games with 10 or more kills in her career, with 15 this season.
- 103: Lilly Gunter has 103 career games with 10 or more digs.
Up Next
- Maryland returns to the XFINITY Center Pavilion to host No. 4 Penn State on Sunday, Nov. 17. The match starts at 2:30 p.m. and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
