Volleyball Begins Conference Play Against Northwestern, Iowa

Thursday, September 26

College Park, MD

7 PM

Maryland

Northwestern

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Volleyball Begins Conference Play Against Northwestern, Iowa

9/25/2024 1:30:00 PM | Volleyball

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Maryland (9-2)

vs.

Northwestern (2-6)

September 26, 2024

XFINITY Center Pavilion

7:00 p.m.

B1G+

Watch Live Stats

Maryland (9-2)

vs.

Iowa (6-6)

September 28, 2024

XFINITY Center Pavilion

7:00 p.m.

B1G+

Watch Live Stats

COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Maryland volleyball opens conference play with two home matches against Northwestern and Iowa. The Terps will face Northwestern on Thursday, September 26. They will close the weekend against Iowa on Saturday, September 28. Both matches will air on B1G+.

Thursday's match is the Terps After Dark match. The first 150 students at the match will receive a voucher for a TAD shirt that can be redeemed at the conclusion of the first set. Saturday is Testudo's Carnival. The first 125 fans at the match will receive a special t-shirt and clown nose.

Saturday's match kicks off the annual SAAC x Share the Shell Terpsgiving food drive. Bring three canned, boxed or jarred-non perishable donations for free entry. Donations will go to the College Park Food Bank and The University of Maryland Campus Kitchen.

turning the page

Maryland sits 9-2 overall after increasing its win streak to eight matches.
The Terps are coming off their third-consecutive weekend sweep against Nevada and UCF. Maryland won in three straight sets over the Wolf Pack and battled through five sets to take down the Knights.
Serving has continued to be an asset for Maryland throughout the season. The Terps average 2.17 service aces per set, ranking first in the Big Ten. Samantha Schnitta leads Maryland with .78 aces per set, sitting third in the nation.
Maryland ranks sixth in the Big Ten standings after non-conference play with a win percentage of .818.
In recent years, Maryland has remained consistent in conference play. The program finished with a conference record of 7-13 in the last three seasons. Adam Hughes and the Terps look to break through that mold in the coming months, starting with opportunities against Northwestern and Iowa.

Lilly Wagner during warm ups against UMBC (Sept. 15, 2024)

leading names

Samantha Schnitta and Sam Csire continue to lead the Terps in kills and aces nearing the end of the non-conference schedule. Schnitta ranks second in the Big Ten in service aces per set with 0.78. The pin hitter sits fourteenth in the conference averaging 3.40 kills per set. Csire sits right behind Schnitta averaging 2.92 kills and 0.38 aces per set.
Zoe Huang and Sydney Dowler have split the setter duties throughout the season. The duo have nearly the same assist average with just under six assists per set. Huang has also been another dominant server for the Terps, owning the third best ace per set average on the team.
On the defensive side of the ball, Lilly Gunter ranks twelfth in the Big Ten averaging 3.44 digs per set. She has recorded double-digit digs in eight matches, including 14 digs in three of her latest matches.
Eva Rohrbach leads the Terps in blocks with 41. The sophomore put up a career best 11 blocks in the first two matches. She added a team high four blocks against the Knights on Saturday.
Ellie Watson stepped up against UCF appearing in all five sets. The senior tallied three kills and three blocks to help Maryland to its final win in the non-conference slate.

Sam Csire and Sydney Dowler celebrating against UMBC (Sept. 15, 2024)

series history

Thursday's match will be the eighteenth meeting between Northwestern and Maryland with the Terps holding a 9-8 all-time record. The last time these programs met was last season where Northwestern took a 3-1 victory in Evanston.
Maryland owns an 11-6 program record over Iowa. The Terps took a 3-0 win over the Hawkeyes last season.

Maryland against Iowa (Oct. 19, 2023)

scouting report

Northwestern arrives to College Park sitting 2-6 overall. The Wildcats picked up a pair of wins over Northern Illinois last week.
On offense, the Wildcats are led by Buse Hazan and Alexa Rousseau. Hazan owns 100 kills and Rousseau has 214 assists on the season. Drew Wright and Kennedy Hill lead Northwestern's defense. Wright has 85 digs and Hill owns 39 blocks. Additionally, Hill sits twelfth in the Big Ten in blocks per set.
Iowa opens conference play at 6-6. The Hawkeyes will face Rutgers before traveling to College Park for Saturday's match.
The Hawkeyes offense is split between Malu Garcia who leads the team in kills with 110 and Dominique Phills who is closely behind her with 101. They have two setters with similar numbers in Jenna Meitzler and Claire Ammeraal.
Defensively, the Hawkeyes average the same blocks per set rate as the Terrapins at 2.38. They rank eighth in the conference in digs per set with 14.08. Joy Galles averages nearly four digs per set.