COLLEGE PARK, MD – In Maryland's volleyball's 2024 home season opener, it swept Alabama A&M (25-12, 25-12, 25-9) at the XFINITY Center Pavilion on Sept. 6. The Terps (2-2) picked up their second sweep of the season. The Terps also set a school record for single-game attack percentage (.500). They broke their record of .484 against Lafayette on Sept. 9, 2000.
Maryland dominated each set. The Terps excelled in the first set in particular, posting a .600 hitting percentage while holding the Bulldogs in the negative. They also forced seven attack errors and recorded 14 kills to the Bulldogs' four in the set.
Graduate pin hitter Samantha Schnitta led Maryland with 11 kills and four blocks, and Fifth-year libero
Lilly Gunter led with nine digs.
Senior setter Zoe Huang led the Terps with 18 assists. It was her fourth career game with double-digit assists, following a career-high 29 assists against New Hampshire.
Eva Rohrbach and Sydney Bryant also performed well, totaling seven kills, two digs and two blocks apiece.
The match was part of the Maryland Tournament. The Bulldogs are now 2-4 on the season.
Breaking Down The Action
Set 1: Maryland 25 - Alabama A&M 12
- Maryland began the set on a 4-2 run with kills by Anastasia Russ, Sydney Bryant and Samantha Schnitta.
- Sam Csire stuffed Alabama A&M to maintain Maryland's lead, 10-7.
- Russ recorded a kill at 15-8, causing the Bulldogs to call a timeout.
- A huge single block at the net by Bryant forced the Bulldogs to call their final timeout of the set at 20-9.
- Maryland closes out the first set with an ace by Ally Williams, 25-12.
Set 2: Maryland 25 - Alabama A&M 12
- After an opening kill by Ellie Watson, the Terps opened set two, 3-3.
- On a run by Williams and after a single block shutout by Csire, the Bulldogs called their first timeout, trailing 11-8.
- Two lefty kills down the line by Schnitta, causing Maryland to lead 16-11.
- After an eight-point run by Csire, the Terps dominated 23-12.
- The Terps closed out set 2 with great defense from sophomore middle blocker Eva Rohrbach and a kill from Schnitta to win 25-12.
Set 3: Maryland 25 - Alabama A&M 9
- A massive block from freshman middle Duru Gökçen and Bryant to open set three 3-2.
- Gökçen scored another kill on the 10-foot line, solidifying the Terps' lead, 10-4.
- Maryland led 20-8 after a dig from Jonna Spohn and a cross-court cut from Bryant.
- The Terps closed set three with an ace from Watson.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Freshman Duru Gökçen made her collegiate debut for the Terps and recorded her first career kill, block and dig.
- 2: Maryland earned its second sweep of the season.
- 4: The Terps committed just four kill errors in the match.
- 4: Zoe Huang recorded her fourth career game with double-digit assists.
- 7: Maryland recorded seven service aces in the match.
- 35: Samantha Schnitta has 35 games in her career with 10 or more kills, including two this season
- .500: Maryland's .500 attack percentage broke its program record of .484 against Lafayette on Sept. 9, 2000.
Up Next
- The Terps will play at American tomorrow, Sept. 7. The match will start at 5 p.m. and be streamed on ESPN+.
