Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

Heading to the Sunshine State, the Terrapin volleyball team is looking for a ray of life.

On a four-match losing streak with two road matches looming, the Terps (5-12, 1-4 ACC) will try to prevent their losing streak from reaching a season-high five games against Florida State on Friday and Miami on Sunday.

"Our team needs to compete," coach Tim Horsmon said. "We need [to] compete at practice every day, and we need to walk out on the court and compete for three games, four games, five games - however many games it is. We're doing whatever it takes to win matches."

The Terps had hoped to build momentum in a two-match home stand last weekend against Virginia Tech and Virginia, but they could not craft a complete performance and lost 0-3 and 1-3, respectively.

Against the Hokies, the Terps were completely dominated in all but the final set. They played strongly in the first two sets against Virginia but lost all momentum in the third, and Virginia took over from there.

This inconsistency is exactly what they will try to prevent this weekend.

The Terps lost to Florida State (9-6, 1-4) on the road last year but want to set the tone early in this match and surpass the Seminoles in the ACC standings, where the teams are tied for 10th place.

The Terps went 2-0 against Miami last year, but this season, the Hurricanes (15-2, 3-2) are a different team. They are in third place in the ACC.

As Miami's opponent in its third ACC game at home, the Terps are not in an enviable position. The Hurricanes have not lost on their home court yet this season. The Terps will not focus on Miami but rather on their own play as they try both to end Miami's eight-match home winning streak and to prevent their slide from reaching a season-high six games.

"We're just trying to get better," Horsmon said. "We just need to get better this week."

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