By Heerah Jayakumar
With over 15,000 fans in attendance at the Xfinity Center, Maryland volleyball lost to Nebraska in straight sets in its highly anticipated match on Saturday.
This was a record-breaking attendance rate for the Terps, beating their previous record of 13,000 attendees in their game against Nebraska in 2024.
“We did not do well, but it wasn’t unexpected that we didn’t do well,” said junior and food science major Isabelle Kaplan. “I don’t think we are fast enough for some of the schools that we are going against.”
Outside hitter Sydney Bryant, who had eight kills, led the Terps. Andi Jackson led the Cornhuskers were with 12 kills. Overall, Nebraska had 43 kills and Maryland had 23, earning them 62 overall points compared to the Terps’ 27. Nebraska also had 11 aces compared to the Terps’ one, as well as eight blocks to the Terps’ three.
Maryland scored 13, 20 and 15 points respectively in each set, while Nebraska scored 25 points in each set. Although they came in strong during the second set, the Terps were no match for the best-ranked program in the country. Nebraska is currently undefeated and has not lost a regular-season match since 2024, making them a tough target for Maryland to match.
Nebraska was missing its star setter in this match and was still able to make the Terps work for their offensive efforts. Although the Terps started each set strongly, Nebraska was able to push back even while missing key members of its team.
“I said we wouldn’t score above 12 points per set. We got to 20 in the second,” said sophomore and psychology major Shannon Harvey. “I think our most embarrassing set was the third set, which was tough because that was their bench lineup. So we should have been doing a lot better than that.”
While some weren’t hopeful about Maryland’s performance, and weren’t surprised when the game closed out after just three sets, fans showed up.
“I think our team’s really good at scrappy play, you know, keeping the ball up. But we could work on our serve received from our outside hitters, and better sets to our right side,” Harvey said.
In their next game, Maryland faces UCLA on Oct. 9, where they look to bounce back and match the pace of their opponents.
Featured Image: Maryland volleyball lost to Nebraska in straight sets on Saturday. Photo by Duncan Holditch.