Maryland volleyball opens 2026 season with sweep of Howard

Maryland volleyball opened the 2026 season with a strong road performance Friday night, sweeping Howard 25-23, 25-14 and 25-22 at Burr Gymnasium in Washington.

The Terrapins improved to 1-0 and remained perfect all-time against the Bison, moving to 19-0 in the series. Maryland also recorded its 14th sweep of Howard and won its season opener for the fifth time in the last six years.

Freshman Ava Brown made an immediate impact in her collegiate debut, leading Maryland with 17 kills. Haley Melby added 12 kills, Sydney Bryant finished with nine and Eva Rohrbach contributed eight.

Terps rally in opening set

Maryland had to work for the first set.

Howard built a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout and looked poised to take early control of the match. Maryland answered after a timeout with a 9-2 run that completely flipped the momentum.

Back-to-back kills from Brown tied the set at 18-18. The Terps then pushed ahead 21-19 before Howard fought back to tie the score again at 23.

Maryland closed the set with the final two points, with a Howard attack error ending the frame at 25-23. Brown and Rohrbach combined for nine kills in the opening set, while the Terps also benefited from six Howard attack errors.

That comeback proved important because Maryland never allowed Howard to regain control of the match.

Maryland dominates second set

The second set was Maryland’s best stretch of the night.

The Terps used an early 7-1 run to build an 11-5 lead and never looked back. Melby and Bryant helped stretch the advantage to 17-11 before a Duru Gökçen kill gave Maryland a commanding 20-12 lead.

Maryland closed out the set 25-14.

The offensive efficiency was outstanding. The Terps hit .600 in the second set, with Brown recording six kills and Bryant and Melby adding five apiece.

For a Maryland team that struggled offensively at times last season, that level of efficiency was a major early-season positive.

Howard fights back in third

Howard did not go away quietly.

The Bison built a 10-7 lead in the third set before Maryland responded to take an 11-10 advantage. Howard later went back in front and led 15-14 at the media timeout.

The teams continued trading points down the stretch.

Howard held a 17-16 advantage and later tied the set at 20-20, putting Maryland in its toughest closing situation of the night.

The Terps responded.

Melby’s 11th kill put Maryland back in front, and Elayna Davidson recorded her second service ace of the night late in the set. Maryland eventually finished off the sweep with a 25-22 victory.

Brown shines in collegiate debut

Brown could not have asked for a much better introduction to college volleyball.

The freshman finished with a team-high 17 kills and immediately became one of Maryland’s primary offensive weapons.

Her performance carried extra significance because Maryland entered the season with a highly regarded freshman class. The Terps’ six-player group was ranked No. 16 nationally by Prep Dig, making it the second-highest-ranked freshman class in program history and the highest-ranked class of Adam Hughes’ tenure.

All six freshmen saw action against Howard.

Davidson finished with two of Maryland’s three service aces, while Raina Chwialkowski led the team with 10 digs.

That immediate production from the freshmen is an encouraging development for a Maryland roster trying to reset after a difficult 2025 season.

Toth controls the offense

Transfer setter Sara Toth also made a strong debut in a Maryland uniform.

The Georgia Tech transfer finished with 46 assists and two kills while directing an offense that hit .434 for the match.

That .434 mark would have been Maryland’s best single-match hitting percentage of the entire 2025 season.

Toth’s ability to distribute the ball across multiple attackers was evident from the stat sheet.

Brown finished with 17 kills, Melby had 12, Bryant added nine and Rohrbach had eight. Maryland was not dependent on one hitter to carry the entire offense.

That type of balance will become increasingly important once Big Ten play begins.

Veterans contribute too

While the newcomers generated plenty of attention, Maryland also received important contributions from its returning core.

Melby, Maryland’s leading returning offensive player from 2025, finished with 12 kills. Bryant contributed nine, while Rohrbach added eight.

Gökçen, who led Maryland with 127 blocks last season, recorded two blocks against Howard.

That combination of veteran production and freshman talent is exactly what Hughes will need as Maryland tries to rebound from last season.

The Terps finished just 1-19 in Big Ten play in 2025, making improvement one of the central themes entering the new season.

Friday was only one match, but it was a good start.

Maryland continues dominance over Howard

The Terps have owned the series against the Bison.

Friday marked the 19th all-time meeting between the programs, dating back to 1976. Maryland has won all 19.

The Terps are also 4-0 against Howard under Hughes and have swept each of the last three meetings.

Howard finished last season 18-11 overall and 10-4 in MEAC play, so this was not simply an empty opening-night victory. The Bison also entered 2026 with three players named to the Preseason All-MEAC Team.

Maryland still had to execute.

It did.

Bigger tests coming quickly

The schedule becomes much tougher from here.

Maryland next heads to Nashville for the Big Ten-SEC Challenge, where the Terps will face Vanderbilt on Sept. 1 before playing Arkansas on Sept. 2.

Those matches will provide a much stronger measurement of where Maryland stands early in the season.

The Terps eventually move into a 17-match Big Ten schedule after playing 11 nonconference contests.

The goal is not simply to start 1-0.

Maryland needs to build enough confidence and cohesion during the nonconference portion of the schedule to be better prepared for one of the toughest leagues in the country.

MSB Take

This was a very good opening night for Maryland.

The Terps did not play a perfect match. They fell behind in the first set, had to rally again in the third and allowed Howard to hang around longer than they probably wanted.

But that may actually make the result more encouraging.

Maryland showed the ability to respond when momentum went against it. That was not always a strength last season, especially during a brutal Big Ten schedule.

The biggest story is Brown.

Seventeen kills in a collegiate debut is not just a nice freshman performance. It is the kind of opening match that immediately gives Maryland another legitimate offensive option.

Toth’s 46 assists are also important. Maryland hit .434 as a team, and the offense looked balanced instead of predictable.

That combination matters.

Maryland is not going to erase last season’s 1-19 Big Ten record with one sweep over Howard. The schedule gets significantly harder almost immediately, and Vanderbilt and Arkansas should provide a much clearer picture of how much this team has improved.

Still, the Terps needed to start the season with confidence.

They did that.

A sweep, a huge freshman debut, strong offensive efficiency and another win over an in-state opponent is exactly the type of opening Maryland needed before the competition ramps up.