Maryland volleyball got off to a strong start against Howard in their first game of the season and looked to continue that success in Nashville Tuesday night vs Vanderbilt.
Unfortunately, the Terps couldn’t meet the power that the Commodores brought out early as Maryland struggled to keep up.
In the first-ever matchup between the two programs, Vanderbilt took down Maryland in straight sets.
Vanderbilt took the first set, 25-18, thanks to junior outside hitter Reese Animashaun, who had four kills and two aces to pace the Commodores’ early success.
Animashaun continued to shine throughout the rest of the match, leading with a match-high 14 points and a team-high 23 attacks.
Maryland freshman Ava Brown had some highlights in the first set with three kills and a hitting percentage of .750. Yet, she also contributed to four of Maryland’s errors, which Vanderbilt quickly pounced on.
The struggles continued in the second set as Vanderbilt dominated, taking it with relative ease, 25-15.
A highlight for the Terps in the second and third sets was junior Duru Gokcen, who had five kills and had a hitting percentage of .571 through two sets — both led the game during that stretch. Gokcen, who was the team’s leader in blocks last season, did the same Tuesday with a game-high five blocks.
Vanderbilt continued to dominate through the third set with multiple scoring runs that shut the Terps down quickly.
Maryland attempted to slow Vanderbilt’s momentum through a crucial net violation challenge that went in the Terps’ favor to make the score 16-13. Yet, Vanderbilt couldn’t be stopped as it rapidly went on another late scoring run that put the match out of reach.
While the match went in Vanderbilt’s favor, Maryland showed some promise as the game progressed. The young Terps team continues to gel and getting more playing time together has shown improvement through the first two matches of the season.
The third set was the Terps’ most successful, scoring their match-high 19 points.
Another key strength for Maryland was senior Sydney Bryant. The outside hitter, who started just one game last season, led the team with 25 attacks. She also matched her kill total from the Terps’ win against Howard with nine.
Three things to know:- Game two in Nashville: Maryland will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they take on Arkansas at 4 p.m. to conclude their trip south for the inaugural Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge.
- Strong Leadership: Even as the Terps look to develop their younger players, Tuesday’s game was highlighted by upperclassmen Bryant and Gokcen. Their experience should help improve key freshmen such as Brown and Brooklyne Brass.
- Help Wanted: Eva Rohrbach and Haley Melby were key pieces to Maryland’s first win of the season against Howard, yet they combined for only 8.5 points on Tuesday. The duo totaled six of the Terps’ 17 errors
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