COLLEGE PARK, MD – Maryland volleyball concluded the 2024 regular season with a 3-1 (27-25, 14-25, 8-25, 12-25) loss to No. 2 Nebraska on Senior night at the XFINITY Center on Saturday. A record-setting 13,071 fans were in attendance, shattering the program's previous mark of 4,522 set on Oct. 23, 2014 against Penn State.
Maryland took the set one thriller. It trailed 21-17 but used two brief 3-0 runs to take the lead at 24-23. It never relinquished the lead, forcing a service and attack error to secure the win. It marked the first time the Terps won set one over the Huskers since 1975. It was also the first time they won any set since their Oct. 2, 2022 meeting.
However, Nebraska dominated the final three sets, earning the victory. The Terps ended the regular season at 14-17 overall and 5-15 in Big Ten.
Samantha Schnitta led the Terps, tallying nine kills, seven digs and one service ace. She finished the season with 88 aces to lead all NCAA Division I. The total is also a program record.
Sam Csire posted five kills and five digs. She ranks third all-time in program history with 1453 kills in her five-year Maryland career.
Katie Scherer (six kills, three digs and two blocks),
Eva Rohrbach (two kills and four blocks),
Sydney Dowler (three kills, seven assists and four blocks) and
Zoe Huang (13 assists and five digs) were other standouts.
Following the match, Maryland honored its eight-member senior class with a special ceremony. The match also marked the first time the Terps played on the XFINITY Center main court since Oct. 26, 2019, when they played against the Nittany Lions.
The Huskers improved to 29-2 overall and 18-1 in conference action, earning a share of the Big Ten regular season title alongside Penn State. Their lone losses this season are to SMU on Sept. 3 and Penn State in their last outing on Nov. 29.
Breaking Down The Action
Set 1: Maryland 27 Nebraska 25
- Nebraska jumped out to a 3-1 lead.
- A service ace by Jonna Spohn tied the set at 5 apiece.
- The Huskers then took back the lead, and a quick 4-0 run gave them a 15-10 lead.
- A kill by Eva Rohrbach tied the set once again at 17 apiece.
- Four straight points gave the Huskers a 21-17 lead.
- The Terps then took a 24-23 lead with three straight points.
- A back-and-forth ensued, and Maryland took the set on a Nebraska attack error.
Set 2: Nebraska 25 Maryland 14
- Nebraska got off to a 6-1 run.
- A kill by Samantha Schnitta cut the lead to three at 7-4.
- A 6-2 run by the Huskers gave them a 13-6 lead, forcing a Terps timeout.
- The Huskers dominated out of the timeout, extending their lead to 21-11 heading into a Nebraska timeout.
- Nebraska bounced back with a convincing win after losing set one.
Set 3: Nebraska 25 Maryland 8
- The Huskers got off to another 6-1 run, forcing a Maryland timeout.
- The Terps burned another timeout after Nebraska scored three straight to lead 11-4.
- The Huskers closed out the set with a win by scoring 14 of the remaining 18 points.
Set 4: Nebraska 25 Maryland 12
- Nebraska started set three on a 4-0 run.
- A service error by Nebraska and an ace by Sam Csire cut the lead in half at 14-7.
- The Huskers closed out the set, scoring 11 of the remaining 16 points.
Terps On The Charts
- Samantha Schnitta leaves as the program record holder for single-season service aces (88).
- She also ranks just outside the top 10 on the career service ace leaderboard with 95 despite playing for the Terps for only two seasons.
- Sydney Dowler ended her career ranked third all-time in assists for Maryland. She now has 3858 assists. The only Terps to accumulate more were Eden Kroeger (5,259 from 1994-97) and Lindsay Davey (3,979 from 1999-02).
- Dowler is also fifth in program history with 123 service aces. Erika Pritchard is fourth with 127 from 2017-21.
- Sam Csire ended her career ranked third all-time in program history with 1453 career kills. Carey Brennan (1,585 from 1999-02) and Erika Pritchard (1,526 from 2017-21) were the only Terps to record more.
- She's also seventh in program history for career aces with 114. Sarah Harper (2010-13) is sixth with 117.
Honoring The Seniors
Numbers To Know
- 1: The Terps took the first set against the Huskers for the first time since 1975.
- 3: Sydney Dowler ended her career ranked third all-time in assists for Maryland. She now has 3858 assists.
- 3: Sam Csire ended her career ranked third all-time in program history with 1453 career kills.
- 8: The Terps honored their eight seniors on Senior Night.
- 88: Samantha Schnitta tallied 88 service aces in the match, bringing her to 88 on the season, ranking first in NCAA Division I. Her total is also a program record.
- 13,071: A record-setting 13,071 fans were in attendance at XFINITY Center.
