For the fifth time this offseason, the Maryland women’s volleyball program is losing a player to transfer. This time it comes in the form of 6’1″ junior (senior-to-be in 2018) right side hitter Angel Gaskin, who has yet to pick her new school.
Of course, the Terrapins are undergoing a loss at head coach, as Steve Aird left the program for Indiana. After he was pivotal in the program hauling in nationally recognized recruiting classes, many of the players are departing as well. The other four joining Gaskin in leaving the program are Gia Milana (to Baylor), Kelsey Wicinski (to Florida State), Lexi Alden (to Loyola Chicago) and Samantha Dreschel (to Washington).
Making the loss worse for Maryland is the fact that Gaskin was the team captain in 2017. She made an impact as soon as she joined the team in 2015, playing in 95 sets and raised her play as a sophomore in 2016 when she finished second on the team in blocks per set (1.00). As a junior this past season, she notched 184 kills (1.66 per set) on a .258 hitting percentage, 58 blocks (0.52 per set) and 24 digs (0.22 per set).
In total for her three seasons with the Terps, Gaskin logged 597 kills (1.87 per set) on a .173 mark, 223 blocks (0.70 per set) and 62 digs (0.19 per set).
With five players now leaving the program via transfer, Maryland has its work cut out for itself in snagging some late recruits and bringing in transfers of their own – which they have already done once with Nicole Alford from Georgia Tech. The man in charge of that mission is new head coach Adam Hughes, who will try to keep Maryland near the NCAA Tournament like they were this season at 18-14, but it’s already a difficult ask with the mass exodus of players.
Gaskin was listed as TBA for her college on the list of athletes trying out for the Collegiate National Team with Team USA. She is also no longer listed on the Maryland roster online. It could be possible she is finishing out the semester before picking a new school in the summer.
It seems like Maryland will struggle offensively with all these transfer. And also it’s late in the game for 2018 recruits…
Nevertheless, five out of their six starters will be players who were tanked in the Top 100 (two in the top 30 or so) within their recruiting classes nationally, and their freshman libero should also be excellent. Their main issue will be lack of depth. Four starters grew up in Maryland too – a nice touch!