COLLEGE PARK, MD – Maryland volleyball was defeated by No. 4 Penn State, 3-1, (13-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-25) before a sold-out XFINITY Center Pavilion crowd on Sunday. There were 1,938 fans in attendance, and this was Maryland's first sellout since last year's Penn State match on Nov. 22.
The loss puts Maryland at 13-14 overall and 4-12 Big Ten in Big Ten play on the season. It stole set two by hitting .244 to Penn State's .167. The Terps also recorded five blocks in the set, while the Nittany Lions only had two.
Samantha Schnitta tallied 12 kills, three digs and three service aces. She now has 77 aces on the season, which leads all Division I players and is a Maryland volleyball program record.
Katie Scherer (six kills and two blocks),
Eva Rohrbach (four kills and three digs) and
Anastasia Russ (three kills and five blocks) were other standouts.
Lilly Gunter had a team-high 13 digs, and
Zoe Huang had a team-high 17 assists.
Penn State improved to 25-2 overall and 15-1 in conference action. Its only losses this season have been from No. 1 Pittsburgh and No. 7 Wisconsin.
Breaking Down The Action
Set 1: Penn State 25 Maryland 13
- Set one opened 2-1 after Anastasia Russ recorded the first kill for the Terps.
- Ally Williams dug a hit from Penn State's outside, resulting in a kill for Samantha Schnitta at 4-3.
- Sydney Dowler swung on the second touch, putting Maryland within three at 11-8.
- At 20-11, Penn State went on a 9-1 run, resulting in a nine-point deficit for Maryland.
- Katie Scherer recorded a kill for the Terps at 24-13.
- Penn State closed set one 25-13.
Set 2: Maryland 25 Penn State 22
- The Nittany Lions started the set leading 3-0.
- A kill by Dowler and a service error by Penn State tied the set at 6-6.
- The Terps took the lead at 8-7 after forcing an attack error.
- Lily Gunter's incredible display of defense resulted in a hitting error for Penn State, which made the score 14-13.
- Maryland took the 19-18 lead over the Nittany Lions following a kill by Eva Rohrbach.
- Schnitta and Russ with a huge block tied the score 21-21.
- Scherer tipped the ball over the block to win the second set 25-22.
Set 3: Penn State 25 Maryland 13
- Maryland opened set two 2-0 following two hitting errors by the Nittany Lions.
- Schnitta with two kills back-to-back, put the Terps within two at 8-6.
- Penn State went on a five-point run to lead 18-10.
- Maryland lost set three 25-13 after an 8-2 run by the Nittany Lions.
Set 4: Penn State 25 Maryland 15
- Set four kicked off 1-0 after Schnitta recorded her 11th kill of the game.
- Another service ace for Schnitta, and Maryland led 5-4.
- The Terps trailed by two after Rohrbach recorded a kill at 10-8.
- A 5-0 scoring run by Penn State forced the Terps to call a timeout at 14-8.
- Maryland responded with a 4-0 scoring run of its own, resulting in a Penn State timeout at 18-13.
- Penn State won the fourth set 25-15.
Numbers To Know
- 3: Sydney Dowler ranks third all-time in assists for Maryland. She now has 3823 assists.
- 4: Sam Csire is fourth all-time in program history with 1422 career kills.
- 4: Katie Scherer recorded her fourth career game with double-digit kills.
- 52: Samantha Schnitta has 52 games in her career with 10 or more kills as a Terp, including 19 this season.
- 77: Schnitta tallied three service aces in the match, bringing her to 77 on the season, ranking first in NCAA Division I. Her total is also a program record.
- 104: Lilly Gunter has 104 career games with 10 or more digs.
- 1,938: There were 1,938 fans in attendance for the first Pavilion sellout since last year's Penn State match.
Up Next
- Maryland will play at Michigan on Thursday, Nov. 21. The match starts at 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
