Riding the momentum of its sweep against University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Maryland women’s volleyball returned home to The Pavilion to face George Mason.
With high energy and fierce attitudes, the Terps triumphed, winning in straight sets.
The Terps began the match with an early cushion before George Mason closed the gap to two points. Maryland quickly responded at the net as Sydney Bryant forced a tight deflection that Caroline Rodriguez couldn’t handle, sparking an efficient run that pushed Maryland’s hitting percentage above 40%.
Following a marathon in-system rally, freshman Ava Brown pounded a kill to make it 16-10. In response, Patriot Nia Thompson aggressively anchored herself at the net, but her defense was no match for the Terps’ offense or the “Maryland wall” that forced a 17-11 lead and a George Mason timeout. The Patriots scored out of the break, but Maryland instantly responded to push the lead to 19-13.
The Terps dominated the finish. Haley Melby used her height to hit downhill to make it 20-13, and Davidson followed with an ace to target George Mason’s passing weaknesses.
After another deflection point set up 21-13, senior transfer Eva Rohrbach fed Melby for her fourth kill of the set, living up to Maryland’saggressive mindset and sealing the 25-13 set win.
This momentum continued into the second set, in which Terps remained aggressive. Right off the bat, Maryland won their first point via an unforced error from George Mason’s Caroline Rodriguez, who hit the ball out of bounds.
After losing the first set, the Patriots slowed themselves down in order to adjust to Maryland’s skill. However, this proved to be a disadvantage.
With the wall put up by Maryland’s defense, George Mason actively searched for weak spots, primarily finding success on their cross-court shots. This was seen when freshman Jenna Hunt used this strategy to hit a kill and, more importantly, put the Patriots on the board.
As George Mason tested their new strategy, Maryland struggled to keep their lead, especially with corner shots flying past their defense. It took a challenged point that George Mason barely sent out of bounds for the Terps to find their footing once again.
Winning the challenge sparked a turning point. Brown hammered back-to-back kills for a 7-3 lead, and Haley Melby capped a long rally to stretch an extended run to 12-4.
George Mason tried to slow the game down out of a timeout, but a service error handed momentum right back. Sydney Bryant took advantage, driving a kill off a perfect Duru Gökçen dig to make it 15-5.
Maryland dominated with a .356 hitting percentage to George Mason’s negative -.135. Melby ripped a clean shot down the middle to push the set to 16-5, and another Rodriguez error pushed it back to 20-8. A late George Mason service error brought it to 23-10 before Gökçen sealed the set with an ace.
Maryland opened the third set strong as Sydney Bryant’s topspin kill sparked a three-point run, followed by Melby painting the corner for a 5-3 lead. George Mason kept it competitive early at 10-7, but 12 extra attacks couldn’t fix their negative hitting percentage.
The set broke open as Melby took over, driving an offensive surge to put Maryland up 19-10. She notched her 12th kill of the afternoon right after a surprise Meldon attack, putting the Terps within striking distance of the win. With Melby serving late, Rohrbach dropped a soft touch past George Mason’s defense to reach match point, and Brooklyn Brass floated it home to seal the 25-12 win.
Three things to know
- Haley Melby was unstoppable. Melby served as the centerpiece of the Terps’ offensive assault throughout the match. Consistently delivering in key moments, she capped off a dominant performance with a game-high 12 kills.
- A game-changing challenge sparked the second set. After George Mason adjusted its tempo to target cross-court gaps and stay within striking distance early in the second set, Maryland turned the match around with a successful video replay challenge.
- Maryland’s defense blocked George Mason out. The Terps completely nullified George Mason’s attack. Maryland relentless defensive coverage forced George Mason into negative hitting percentages across multiple sets.
