Volleyball Team Closes Out Regular Season This Week
11/9/1999 7:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 9, 1999
COLLEGE PARK, MD. - After posting its most impressive victory of the 1999 season, the University of Maryland volleyball team (12-16, 5-9 ACC) closes out its regular season this week at North Carolina on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and at NC State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Maryland is coming off a stunning 15-7, 12-15, 13-15, 15-13, 18-16 win at Virginia last Friday.
Scouting Maryland
Maryland enters the week with a record of 12-16 (5-9 in the ACC) following its dramatic win over Virginia on Friday.
Senior Beth Murphy (Golden, Colo.) leads the Terps with 374 kills and is averaging a team-high 3.61 kills per game. Her 385 kills this season already ranks as the 10th-highest single-season total in school history. In last week's ACC statistics, Murphy ranked seventh in the conference in kills per game (3.88) and seventh in service aces per game (0.43).
Fellow senior Kate Hannas (Ellicott City, Md.) leads the Terps with 2.54 digs per game and 1.08 total blocks per game.
Sophomore setter Libby Alberts (Eden Prairie, Minn.) is averaging 8.25 assists per game.
Terps Stun Virginia in Five-Game Thriller
The Maryland volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the University of Virginia 3-2 (15-7, 12-15, 13-15, 15-13, 18-16) in the Cavaliers' final home match of the season Friday evening at University Hall. The loss to the Terps snaps Virginia's four-match winning streak over Maryland. Virginia falls to 15-8 overall and 8-6 in the ACC, while the Terrapins improve to 12-16 overall and 5-9 in the conference. Maryland set a school record by registering 36 team block assists in the match. Junior outside hitter Maren Stuart (Tampa, Fla.) led Maryland with 12 block assists and also added a team-high 18 kills.
Maryland opened the match with a 15-7 win in game one, but Virginia came back to win the next two games for a 2-1 lead. The Cavaliers won game two 15-12 and took the third game 15-13. In game three, junior outside hitter Andrea Fischer served eight-straight points to turn a 13-6 deficit into a 14-13 Virginia advantage. In the fourth game, the Cavaliers led 6-3 and 10-6, but Maryland rebounded to tie the match at 11-11. With Virignia leading 13-12, the Terrapins scored the final three points for a 15-13 triumph. The fifth and deciding game was tied nine times, including 16-16 before Maryland pulled out the win, 18-16.
In addition to Stuart, the Terrapins also received outstanding performances from freshman outside hitter Carey Brennan (Smithsburg, Md.) and junior outside hitter Nnenna Amobi (Silver Spring, Md.). Brennan totaled 14 kills, 15 digs, three block assists and two service aces, while Amobi tallied 13 kills and six block assists. Senior outside hitter Beth Murphy added 10 kills, 14 digs and seven block assists.
Murphy Approaching 400 Kills
With 385 kills, senior Beth Murphy is just 15 kills away from becoming the sixth player in Maryland history to post 400 or more kills in a single season. Former Terp Coleen Hurley posted a school-record 493 kills in 1990. Elizabeth Efron had the second-highest number of kills in a season (465 kills in 1997), followed by Daune Koester (419 in 1996), Sheila Fearnow (404 in 1986) and Kelly Malins (401 in 1994).
Murphy has posted 20 or more kills five times this season, including a career-high 27 kills against NC State on Sept. 25 and a then career-high 26 kills against James Madison on Sept. 7. Her other 20-plus kill efforts this season have come against Duke on Oct. 9 (23 kills), Akron on Sept. 4 (21 kills) and George Mason on Sept. 14 (20 kills).
For her career at Maryland, Murphy has posted 20 or more kills in a match seven times.
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