Maryland volleyball takes down Princeton, 3-0, for 6th win of 2026
· Yahoo Sports
Sydney Bryant was the spark behind Maryland volleyball’s offensive momentum, leading an attack that overwhelmed Princeton throughout Saturday night’s match.
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The Terps came out on top in straight sets and are now 6-1 to begin the season, their best start since 2021. Head coach Adam Hughes had high praise for Maryland’s confidence in the locker room and on the court this year.
“I’ll give a lot of the shoutout to the seniors. In the beginning of the year, we talked about how freshmen were going to be a big factor and how the seniors are going to have to be big leaders and be composed, and they’ve done that. It’s been at practice, it’s been at meetings, it’s been across the board — not just how we perform in matches,” Hughes said.
Maryland shot out to an early lead, kicked off by a kill from Melby that was followed by a service ace from Brooklynne Brass. Two service errors later placed Princeton in a 5-1 deficit to begin the match.
Duru Gökçen and Eva Rohrbach posed a threatening blocking duo at the net in the first set and anchored an effective defensive unit that halted multiple attacks from the Tigers. Their blocking led to a kill from Sara Toth that forced Princeton to call a timeout as the Terps took a 9-3 lead.
Rohrbach came out of the timeout with a kill, giving the Terps more energy to ride off of. Veteran outside hitter Bryant led by example with three crucial kills. They, along with a kill and service ace from Melby and a kill from Rohrbach, allowed Maryland to take an 11-point lead, their largest of the set.
Princeton attempted to make a late surge and steal the set, cutting the lead to as little as six with a kill from Erin McNair. However, a late push from Princeton was not enough to stifle the Terps’ momentum. Errors by the Tigers and Maryland’s aggressive defense allowed the Terps to close out the first set, 25-17.
The second set had a more balanced start in comparison to the opening set. Gameplay was back-and-forth for the first few points. Toth assisted on three kills – two from Melby, and one from Rohrbach – to spark a 3-0 run that allowed the Terps to briefly pull away from the stalemate that characterized the start of the set.
Maryland couldn’t yet fully break away as it did in the first set, though. Tigers outside hitter Sarah Hom cutMaryland’s lead to two points. Unfortunately for Princeton, the pause in the Terps’ momentum wouldn’t last for long. With a kill from Gökçen and Raina Chwialkowski recording a series of points through service and errors by the Tigers, the Terps went on an 8-2 run.
Princeton wouldn’t recover from the deficit the run caused. Bryant added three kills to her impressive total late in the set that allowed Maryland to pull away. Ashtyn Syms attempted to spark some momentum for Princeton with a kill to fend off a set point by Maryland. However, Melby secured her eighth kill of the game as Maryland secured its second-set win, 25-15.
The Tigers took their first lead of the match with two kills from Clark Taylor. This would be the first and only advantage for Princeton, as Maryland was able to pull away and capitalize on the Tigers’ errors. Those errors sparked a 7-1 run for the Terps, as Bryant and Gökçen added kills to increase the lead.
Action was balanced for the middle portion of the third set. Attack errors from both sides kept the Maryland lead around five points until two errors from Princeton’s Ashtyn Sims landed the Terps a 20-13 lead late in the set. The Tigers fought back, with crucial kills from Taylor and McNair that brought Maryland’s lead to three as Princeton attempted to steal the set from the Terps. Instead, the Tigers’ hopes would fall short as two errors gave Maryland the deciding points to rise to victory in a 25-20 third set.
Three things to know
1. Team chemistry. Communication between Toth and Maryland’s veteran outside hitters Melby and Bryant allowed the two to combine for 23 kills in an aggressive attack that was almost unstoppable. When asked about what went well offensively today, Bryant praised Toth.
“There was a lot of communication between us and our setter. She’s not afraid to go back to us, and that clear line of communication really helped,” Bryant said.
2. Big-time blocking. Maryland’s blocking core in Gökçen and Rohrbach fended off fierce attacks from Princeton and earned crucial points for the Terps that sparked runs.
3. Attacking versatility. Hughes was able to rely on Bryant and Melby for individual point production at different moments throughout the match, allowing the veterans to rest and balance the offensive load.