Maryland Volleyball Sweeps UMES in Home Opener, Improves to 3-1
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland volleyball made quick work of Maryland Eastern Shore on Sunday afternoon, sweeping the Hawks 25-15, 25-16, 25-16 in the Terrapins’ 2026 home opener at the Stephen M. Schanwald Pavilion. Maryland controlled the match from the opening set, produced a balanced offensive attack and held UMES to a .048 hitting percentage over three sets. The victory improved the Terps to 3-1, their best record through four matches since 2023, and extended Maryland’s impressive home-opening streak.
The match was also the first-ever meeting between Maryland and Maryland Eastern Shore. Maryland entered the afternoon coming off a productive trip to Nashville for the Big Ten/SEC Challenge, where the Terps bounced back from a loss to Vanderbilt by defeating Arkansas 3-1. Sunday represented an opportunity to build on that momentum, and Maryland never gave UMES much of an opening.
Maryland finished the match with 43 kills against only 13 attacking errors, hitting .319 as a team. The Terps also held major advantages in kills, 43-21, assists, 39-19, digs, 36-28, and service aces, 7-1. UMES managed six total blocks compared with Maryland’s five, but the Hawks could not consistently slow down Maryland’s offense or establish enough of their own attack to pressure the Terps.
Sydney Bryant and Haley Melby led Maryland with nine kills apiece, while Ava Brown added eight. Sara Toth directed the offense with 36 assists, and Raina Chwialkowski anchored the back row with a match-high 16 digs. Maryland’s balance was one of the clearest takeaways, as several hitters produced efficiently enough that UMES could not simply focus on one attacker.
Maryland took control early in the first set. Bryant opened the match with a kill, and Duru Gökçen added two early kills as the Terps began establishing their attack. Chwialkowski then delivered two service aces during a 7-0 Maryland run that transformed a competitive opening stretch into a 9-4 Terps lead.
The service line became a major weapon throughout the first set. Melby later added an ace to stretch Maryland’s advantage to 13-8, and the Terps carried a 15-10 lead into the media timeout. Brooklynne Brass added another ace as Maryland pushed the margin to 20-12 before closing the opening frame 25-15.
Maryland hit .400 in that first set, finishing with 12 kills and only two errors on 25 attempts. UMES, by comparison, hit just .037 with eight kills and seven errors. That efficiency gap allowed Maryland to play from ahead nearly the entire set and prevented the Hawks from generating the kind of sustained run necessary to make things close.
The second set was even more decisive at the beginning. Maryland exploded to an 8-0 lead, immediately putting UMES in another major hole before the Hawks could establish any rhythm. Melby recorded her second ace during that opening burst, and Maryland never allowed the margin to become uncomfortable.
UMES did settle down somewhat as the set progressed, but Maryland continued answering whenever the Hawks threatened to generate momentum. A Melby kill gave the Terps a 13-7 advantage, and later Elayna Davidson served an ace during another 4-0 run that extended Maryland’s lead to 19-9. The Terps eventually finished the second set 25-16 to move within one frame of the sweep.
Maryland’s hitting percentage dropped to .163 in the second set, as the Terps committed eight attacking errors. UMES, however, struggled even more offensively, hitting negative-.067 with only four kills and six errors on 30 swings. Even without Maryland playing its cleanest offensive volleyball, the Terps’ serving, defense and depth still created a comfortable advantage.
The third set was the closest of the afternoon in terms of flow, but Maryland still remained in control. The Terps moved ahead 8-4 early, and Brown later delivered a kill to extend the advantage to 12-8. Melby gave Maryland a 15-12 lead at the media break before Bryant helped push the margin to 19-13.
Maryland closed the afternoon with another 25-16 set victory, completing the straight-sets win. The third set was also Maryland’s most efficient offensive frame of the match, as the Terps hit .500 with 16 kills and only three errors on 26 attempts. UMES had its best offensive set at .192, but still could not generate enough scoring to threaten Maryland late.
The defensive effort was one of the strongest parts of Maryland’s performance. Holding UMES to a .048 hitting percentage over three sets meant the Hawks consistently struggled to finish rallies, even when they were able to get into their offense. Maryland forced or benefited from 17 UMES attacking errors while surrendering only 21 kills.
Chwialkowski’s 16 digs were especially important in keeping Maryland organized defensively. Melby added six digs and Brass contributed five, giving the Terps several players capable of extending points and helping convert defensive stops into transition offense. That work behind the block allowed Maryland to maintain control even during stretches when its own hitting was not perfect.
The service game also gave Maryland a major advantage. The Terps finished with a season-high seven aces, with Melby and Chwialkowski recording two apiece. Maryland used those serves not only to score directly, but also to keep UMES out of system and make it more difficult for the Hawks to run clean offensive sets.
Toth deserves plenty of credit for the offensive balance. Her 36 assists on Maryland’s 43 kills reflect how effectively she distributed the ball among several options. Bryant and Melby each reached nine kills, Brown added eight, and Gökçen contributed effectively in the middle during the opening set.
Eva Rohrbach also made an impact at the net defensively, leading Maryland with four blocks. Toth and Brown each added two block assists as Maryland kept UMES from finding easy scoring lanes at the pins or through the middle. The Terps did not dominate the block total, but they did enough at the net to complement a strong floor-defense performance.
For UMES, Shayla Henry led the Hawks with seven kills, while Karielys Melendez added six. Dynasty Andrews recorded five blocks, and Jayda Hutchins led the Hawks with 13 assists. Arianna Warner Torres paced UMES with nine digs, but Maryland’s depth and efficiency proved too much to overcome.
Sunday also continued a remarkable trend in Maryland home openers. Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Terps have now won 11 consecutive home openers. Maryland has also swept seven of its home openers since 2015 and has not lost its first home match of a season against a nonconference opponent since 2012.
Those streaks are significant because Maryland has been able to make College Park a dependable early-season advantage. Opening at home after already playing four matches away from College Park could have created some adjustment, but the Terps looked comfortable immediately. Maryland played with energy from the first serve and never allowed UMES to believe an upset was developing.
The victory also continued an encouraging opening stretch for the Terps. Maryland began the season by sweeping Howard, then went 1-1 against SEC competition in Nashville, losing to Vanderbilt before responding with a four-set victory over Arkansas. The Arkansas win was Maryland’s first against an SEC opponent since 2019, and Sunday’s sweep showed the Terps were able to maintain that momentum instead of suffering a letdown.
Maryland’s 3-1 record is its best through four matches since 2023. That does not determine how the season will ultimately unfold, especially with Big Ten competition still ahead, but the early results are encouraging. The Terps have already shown they can win a road rivalry match, respond after a loss, beat an SEC opponent and take care of business against a team they were expected to defeat.
The most encouraging part may be the number of offensive options Maryland has displayed. Melby led the Terps with 18 kills against Arkansas, while Brown and Bryant each had 14 and Rohrbach added 10 in that victory. Against UMES, Maryland again spread the production around instead of relying on one hitter to carry the offense.
That balance will become increasingly important as the schedule grows more difficult. Big Ten opponents will have more size, more defensive discipline and more scouting information, making it harder for one attacker to consistently dominate. A Maryland team capable of getting meaningful kills from multiple positions gives Toth far more flexibility when opponents begin targeting individual hitters.
Maryland did exactly what it needed to do Sunday. The Terps played aggressively from the service line, limited UMES offensively and avoided allowing a theoretically favorable matchup to become unnecessarily complicated. The result was a clean sweep that required only three sets and allowed Maryland to move quickly into its next match.
The turnaround is immediate. Maryland hosts George Mason on Monday at 1 p.m. at the Stephen M. Schanwald Pavilion, with the match scheduled to stream on Big Ten Plus. The Terps will have little recovery time, but Sunday’s three-set victory should help keep the workload manageable heading into the second half of the back-to-back home dates.
MSB Take
Maryland handled this exactly the way a Big Ten team should handle a matchup like this. The Terps did not allow UMES to hang around, did not give away an early set and did not need a dramatic late comeback. They grabbed control in the first set, opened the second with an 8-0 run and finished the job in three.
The most encouraging statistic is probably Maryland’s .319 hitting percentage combined with UMES hitting only .048. That is domination on both sides of the net. Maryland was efficient enough offensively to consistently finish rallies while also making the Hawks work extremely hard to generate anything meaningful in attack.
The seven aces are another positive sign. Serving can change matches quickly, especially when a team uses it to force bad first contacts and predictable sets. Maryland did that repeatedly Sunday, and it helped make the defensive numbers look even better because UMES struggled to run its offense in rhythm.
There is also something to be said for the balance Maryland is developing. Bryant and Melby shared the team lead with nine kills, Brown had eight, Toth distributed 36 assists and Chwialkowski controlled the back row with 16 digs. That is the type of complete team effort Maryland will need once the Big Ten schedule begins.
At 3-1, the Terps have put together a very respectable opening stretch. The loss to Vanderbilt is still there, but Maryland responded by beating Arkansas and then dominating UMES rather than allowing one loss to snowball. That response says something positive about the group.
George Mason comes next, and Maryland should approach that match the same way. Start fast, serve aggressively and make the opponent prove it can handle the Terps’ depth. If Maryland continues getting this kind of production throughout the lineup, this early-season start could turn into something much more meaningful.
