Maryland Volleyball Sweeps George Mason for Third Straight Win
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland volleyball continued its strong start to the 2026 season Monday afternoon, overpowering George Mason in straight sets, 25-14, 25-10, 25-12, at the Stephen M. Schanwald Pavilion.
The Terrapins improved to 4-1 with the victory and have now won three consecutive matches after dropping their lone contest of the season against Vanderbilt. Maryland also moved to 2-0 at home and recorded its best five-match start since opening the 2023 season with the same 4-1 mark.
This one was never really in doubt.
Maryland hit .400 as a team, committed only five attack errors across three sets and held George Mason to a miserable -.061 hitting percentage. The Patriots finished with just 25 kills against 31 attack errors, while Maryland produced 37 kills on only 80 total attempts.
Maryland Takes Control Immediately
The Terrapins came out aggressively in the opening set and never allowed George Mason to settle into any sort of rhythm.
Maryland jumped ahead 5-1 before an Eva Rohrbach kill extended the advantage to 10-4. George Mason briefly cut the deficit to 11-9 behind a kill and consecutive service aces, but Maryland responded by stretching the lead back to 16-10. From there, the Terps closed the set emphatically and took a 25-14 victory.
The first set established the theme for the entire afternoon. George Mason hit -.194 with six kills and 12 errors on 31 swings, while Maryland hit .286 with 11 kills and just three errors. Maryland’s block also became a major factor early, with Duru Gökçen collecting three of her 3.5 blocks during the opening frame.
That defensive pressure prevented the Patriots from ever building any momentum. Maryland forced bad swings, closed blocks effectively and consistently turned George Mason’s offensive mistakes into transition opportunities.
Terps Dominate the Second Set
Maryland was even better in the second.
Sydney Bryant recorded Maryland’s first kill of the frame before the Terrapins put together a 6-1 run to take an 8-3 advantage. The lead grew to 12-4 before George Mason called timeout, but the break did little to slow Maryland down.
Bryant continued to produce and gave Maryland a 15-5 advantage at the media timeout before another one of her kills pushed the lead to 18-8. Sara Toth later delivered an ace for Maryland’s 20th point before Raina Chwialkowski ended the set with another ace. The Terps cruised to a 25-10 victory and moved one set away from completing the sweep.
The numbers from the second set were remarkable.
Maryland finished with 13 kills and zero attack errors on 27 attempts for a .481 hitting percentage. George Mason, meanwhile, hit only .057 with 10 kills and eight errors.
A mistake-free offensive set at that level is exactly what head coach Adam Hughes wants to see from his team. Maryland was efficient, aggressive and disciplined, and George Mason simply had no answer.
Maryland Finishes the Sweep
There was no letdown in the third set.
Bryant opened the frame with her sixth kill of the match before Maryland steadily built another comfortable advantage. A Gökçen play moved the Terps ahead 10-6, and Maryland carried a 15-9 lead into the media timeout.
Haley Melby delivered her 12th kill to give Maryland its 20th point of the set, and the Terps closed out the match with a 25-12 victory. Maryland hit .440 in the final frame while again forcing George Mason into negative territory at -.063.
The final numbers showed just how one-sided the match became.
Maryland won the three sets by a combined score of 75-36. George Mason never reached 15 points in any set, and Maryland did not allow the Patriots to build any sustained offensive pressure at any point in the afternoon.
Melby Leads Balanced Maryland Attack
Melby led Maryland with a match-high 13 kills and emerged as the Terps’ most productive attacker.
Bryant added seven kills, while Ava Brown and Rohrbach each finished with six. Maryland’s offensive balance made it difficult for George Mason to focus its defensive attention on any one hitter, and that distribution helped contribute to the Terps’ .400 team hitting percentage.
Maryland also received another strong effort at the net.
The Terps recorded a season-high 10 blocks, and Gökçen’s 3.5 total blocks helped set the tone defensively. Maryland’s ability to combine blocking pressure with efficient transition offense was one of the biggest reasons George Mason finished the match hitting below zero.
The defensive performance was also historically strong by recent Maryland standards. George Mason’s -.061 hitting percentage was the lowest Maryland has held an opponent since Le Moyne hit -.080 against the Terps on Sept. 15, 2023.
George Mason Never Finds an Answer
George Mason entered the match at 4-1 and had just swept Hampton one day earlier while hitting .340 with 48 kills. Maryland completely shut down that attack less than 24 hours later.
The Patriots finished with 25 total kills against 31 errors and never hit better than .057 in any set. Even when George Mason briefly made the first set competitive, Maryland answered immediately and never allowed the match to tighten again.
Maryland now owns a 26-6 all-time record against George Mason after Monday’s 32nd meeting between the programs. The Terps have controlled the series historically, and this was one of their more dominant performances against the Patriots.
Maryland Has Won Three Straight
Maryland’s season has quickly rebounded after its loss to Vanderbilt.
The Terps opened the year with a 3-0 sweep of Howard before falling to Vanderbilt in the Big Ten-SEC Challenge. Maryland then defeated Arkansas in four sets, swept Maryland Eastern Shore and followed that performance with another sweep against George Mason.
That means Maryland has now won nine of its last 10 sets.
The Terps are also 2-0 at home for the seventh consecutive season, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. Maryland has built some early momentum before moving deeper into its nonconference schedule and eventually preparing for Big Ten play.
Maryland Tournament Comes Next
Maryland stays home for its next stretch and will host the Maryland Tournament beginning Friday.
The Terps face Seton Hall on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Stephen M. Schanwald Pavilion. The match will air on B1G+, giving Maryland another opportunity to build upon a three-match winning streak and a 4-1 overall record.
The early schedule has already provided Maryland with several different tests. The Terps have played on the road, competed against SEC opposition and now handled consecutive home matches without dropping a set.
The next objective will be maintaining that consistency.
MSB Take
Maryland did exactly what a good team is supposed to do against an opponent it should beat.
There was no drama, no prolonged slow start and no opportunity for George Mason to gain confidence. Maryland grabbed control almost immediately and then got better as the match progressed, which might be the most encouraging part of the performance.
The .400 hitting percentage jumps off the page, but Maryland’s five total attack errors might be even more impressive. The Terps had zero errors in the entire second set and just two in the third. That kind of offensive efficiency will make Maryland difficult to deal with when Big Ten competition begins.
The defense deserves just as much credit.
Holding any Division I opponent to a negative hitting percentage is difficult, and George Mason entered Monday with a 4-1 record. Maryland held the Patriots to -.061 and produced a season-high 10 blocks. That is complete domination at the net.
Melby also continues to emerge as an important offensive weapon. Her 13 kills led the match, while Bryant, Brown and Rohrbach gave Maryland enough balance that the Patriots could not simply key on one attacker.
Maryland is now 4-1, has won three straight and has dropped only one set during that winning streak.
There are much tougher matches ahead, particularly once Big Ten play begins, but performances like this are exactly how a team builds confidence before reaching that portion of the schedule.
