The cusp of the NCAA Tournament bubble is a precarious perch.
And for the Terrapin volleyball team, it's a position it has come to know all too well this season.
After falling out of the top half of the conference standings, the Terps find themselves ranked 67th in the RPI — a mark that would likely place them out of the 64-team tournament. And with just five matches remaining, the Terps are running out of chances to move closer to tournament contention.
"We're going to have to have a couple good weekends to even have a chance at it," coach Tim Horsmon said. "We have a 50-50 chance. The next few weeks will determine what happens."
The ACC has never had more than five teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament, and last year marked the first and only time the conference sent five. The Terps, who currently stand in seventh place in the ACC, will likely have to move into the conference's top four to have a shot at earning a tournament bid.
But the Terps will have an opportunity to improve their standing. Four of their five remaining opponents rank above them in the RPI and are tied or ahead of them in the conference standings. If the team takes care of business in its final five contests, Horsmon and the players believe the Terps still have a shot at the Big Dance.
"We're obviously in a position to do well," Horsmon said, "but at this point, every match matters."
"We're still in the race," middle blocker Lisa Scott said. "Every match this year has been a must-win for us, and these teams have better rankings in the national poll than we do, and we have to win them in order to move up."
Time is slim for the Terps to move up the ladder in the eyes of the tournament committee. But the team knows it can still control its postseason prospects.
"Coach has been telling us forever that we were good enough and that we were going to be on the bubble," Scott said. "It's our decision if we're going to be good enough throughout the season to make it into the NCAA Tournament."
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