Maryland has begun the 2017 season on fire, now posting an 11-2 overall record behind a strong, athletic team. The team will now be without their freshman captain and leading blocker, Katie Myers who is out for the remainder of the season with a meniscus tear.
This is not the first injury for Myers while with the Terps, as she saw action against Maryland last season before going down with a season-ending ACL tear.
The torn meniscus occurred during the teams upset over then-#18 ranked USC. Myers left the match after it happened but later returned. By the next match, she was on the sidelines during warmups with ice on her knee. The loss of Myers will be a blow for the Terps, as they are on a 0-2 losing streak since her absence from the court. The Terps loss to Washington was their first of the season, ending their perfect run and was followed up by a sweep at Ohio State. Maryland needs just one more win this season to match their wins from the 2016 season.
Myers put down 58 kills on a .325 hitting clip, 13 aces and 43 blocks before the injury sidelined her for the year.
Taking over for Myers in her absence is true freshman Jada Gardner who now has 17 kills and 10 blocks on the year. The team loses something on the serve with Gardner in the lineup as Myers was second on the team with 13 aces. The squad has the confidence in Gardner, that she will be able to take over the middle blocking position and continue to help the team throughout the season, though, it has been a slow start for the freshman.
The team is currently on a four-match road streak that begins Big Ten play – the Terps took on Ohio State to start this road stint, losing in three. Next up will be Indiana followed by Michigan State and Michigan.
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