The world of Big Ten volleyball is relentlessly tough and ceaselessly competitive. The conference draws some of the game's best coaches and, by the end of the 2015 season, Maryland coach Steve Aird and his assistants, Adam Hughes and Kristin Kenney, had shown their readiness to compete at that level. The Terps won three of their last seven matches, including upending 12th ranked Ohio State in straight sets and winning sets at home over Penn State and eventual national champion Nebraska.
But in a conference also populated by many of the nation's best players, good coaching can take a team only so far.