Maryland volleyball had a chance to cement themselves as having a potent defense Thursday night at No. 22 USC.

The Terps entered off a promising week with their first Big Ten loss, and it was the next text against a strong unit.

Almost immediately, it was clear Maryland couldn’t do it.

USC swept the Terps and them to a -.047 hitting percentage throughout the match and collected 12 total blocks en route to a decisive sweep.

USC started the match by taking a 9-3 lead. By the time Hughes used his first timeout, three Trojans already had multiple kills. There were no remnants of Maryland’s recent competitive performances.

[Here’s how Maryland volleyball found its first conference win last week]

What little scoring Maryland could achieve in the opening period was offset with several attacking errors. Duru Gökçen was the only Terp to record more kills than errors in the set, and the team hit -.083 across the frame.

Without any scoring of their own, the Terps’ normally effective defense couldn’t counter. Heading into this match, London Wijay was the only player averaging 3+ kills per set for USC. Three Trojans had three or more kills in the first set against Maryland alone.

USC then rolled to a 25-12 win in the opening set, a major disappointment following last week’s many marked improvements. Despite the flat start, the Terps would have a chance to bounce back.
It didn’t happen.

Hughes was forced to take another early timeout as the Trojans assembled an 8-2 lead in the second set.By then, Maryland amassed five errors on seven attacking attempts — still no kills.

Ajack Malual, usually reliable in these situations, was helpless to stop the onslaught. She led Maryland with five kills in the match, yet finishing with a -.182 hitting percentage with nine errors.

[Here’s how Maryland volleyball found its first conference win last week]

Maryland’s offensive struggles were compounded by the emergence of USC’s defensive talent. The Trojans logged 7.5 total blocks throughout the set, snagging the second set 25-14.

Maryland managed a 12-11deficit midway through the third, aided by sloppy play from USC.

The offense garnered a few kills, but Maryland was completely demoralized by another 7-1 run that ended the set, 25-18.

Maryland’s poor offensive performance resulted with 21 total kills on the night, only one more than the Trojans’ two top scorers combined.