Red-Hot Terps Look For Season Sweep Of Virginia Saturday In Charlottesville
10/22/2001 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2001
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COLLEGE PARK, Md.- The University of Maryland women's volleyball team looks for its eighth win in 11 matches Saturday at ACC rival Virginia. The Terps are looking for the season sweep over the Cavaliers for the first time since 1997. Earlier this season, UM topped UVa in five games at Ritchie Coliseum, (3-2) 30-22, 28-30, 20-30, 30-21, 16-14.
* The Terps are coming off their biggest win of the season and one of the most important victories in recent memory after upsetting No. 25 North Carolina in five games this past Sunday at Ritchie Coliseum. The loss snapped UNC's 12-match ACC winning streak and their seven-match winning streak over the Terps. The loss was also the first of the year for UNC in the ACC and it was the Terps' second win over the two top teams in the conference, UNC and Duke.
* Maryland also swept NC State and dropped a hard-fought five-game decision to FSU earlier in the week during the three-match homestand.
Dority Named ACC Volleyball Player Of The Week
* Senior middle hitter Willette Dority (Congers, N.Y.) has been named ACC Player of the Week for her efforts last week. Dority helped lead the Terps to two ACC victories including an upset win over No. 25 North Carolina.
* Dority led the Terps with 47 kills on the week and a .398 hitting percentage. Against UNC, Dority totaled a career-high 17 kills and she totaled a career-high eight blocks earlier in the week vs. NC State.
* Dority is the second Maryland player to win ACC Player of the Week honors this season. Junior outside hitter Carey Brennan (Smithsburg, Md.) earned the honor for the week of Sept. 24-30.
Terrapins Off To Best ACC Start Since 1997
* With Maryland's five-game victory over North Carolina, it was the team's sixth ACC victory of the season. The six ACC wins are the most for the Terps since the 1997 season when the team went a perfect 16-0.
* After defeating the ACC's top two teams, North Carolina and Duke at Ritchie Coliseum this year, it marked the first time also since the 1997 campaign that the Terrapins have defeated both teams in the same season. The Terrapins are also the only team in the ACC in 2001 to defeat both the Tar Heels and Blue Devils.
* The Terps split the season series with the Tar Heels but still have a chance to sweep the season series with Duke. The Terrapins travel to Durham Saturday (Nov. 3) to face the Blue Devils.
Enjoying The Home Cooking
* The Terrapins have played well in their final season at Ritchie Coliseum. The Terps will play next season in the Comcast Center, but have enjoyed the home court advantage at Ritchie this season.
* The Terps are 5-3 overall at home including a 4-2 ACC mark. Over the past two seasons, the Terps only won three games each year at home and could win as many as six ACC matches this season at home. Maryland still has home dates remaining with Clemson and Georgia Tech. Earlier in the year, the Terps swept Clemson and lost in five-games at Georgia Tech.
* In just over five seasons at Ritchie Coliseum, the Terrapins own a 35-22 record. Maryland has had a winning record each season in Ritchie except in 1999, when the Terps finished with a 9-10 mark.
Terps Look To Climb In Regional Rankings
* Maryland is ranked No. 7 in the East region in the NCAA regional rankings, released by the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee on Oct. 17.
* Six ACC schools are ranked in the East region top 10 led by North Carolina. Other ACC schools in the top 10 include No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 5 Wake Forest and No. 10 Florida State.
* The Terps own victories over No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Duke and No. 10 Florida State while dropping a hard-fought five-game decision at No. 3 Georgia Tech.
* The Terps still have matches remaining vs. regional foes Duke and Wake Forest. The Terps travel to Durham to face the Blue Devils (Nov. 3) and face Wake Forest in Winston-Salem (Oct. 30).
The Latest On Virginia
* Virginia is 6-12 overall and eighth in the ACC with a 2-9 conference mark. The Cavaliers have struggled of late, dropping eight of their last nine matches and 10 of the last 12.
* On Sept. 25 at Ritchie Coliseum, Maryland downed UVa in five games. The Terps came out on top, (3-2) 30-22, 28-30, 20-30, 30-21 and 16-14.
* Shannon Boyle leads the team with 158 kills and is one of five UVa players with triple-figure kills. Jenny Harmon ranks second on the team in both kills (153) and digs (123).
A Balanced Attack Leads The Way For The Terrapins
* Maryland has four players in triple-figures with kills including three players with over 200 kills. Both Carey Brennan (Smithsburg, Md.) and Maria DiLivio (Hamilton, Ontario) have over 240 kills.
* After missing last week's NC State match with an elbow injury, Brennan played very well in two matches with FSU and UNC. Brennan slammed a season-high 25 kills in the five-game loss to FSU and hit 20 kills in the big win over UNC. Brennan also recorded her 1,000th career kill in the UNC victory. For the season, Brennan leads the team with 251 kills and 214 digs.
* DiLivio ranks second on the team with 244 kills in 19 matches. Against the Tar Heels, DiLivio played one of her better matches for her career, finishing with a career-high 21 kills.
* Willette Dority is third on the team with 213 kills. Dority also leads the team and the Atlantic Coast Conference with a .363 hitting percentage. In last week's two victories, Dority led the team with 47 kills and an impressive .398 hitting percentage over the three matches. Dority finished the UNC match with a career-high 17 kills and earlier in the week she totaled a career-high eight blocks in the NC State win. The eight blocks also set a new Ritchie Coliseum record, breaking the old mark of seven held by Nnenna Amobi and Kate Hannas.
* Lynnsy Jones is fourth on the team with 196 kills and leads the team in service aces with 37. Against the Tar Heels, Jones tied a career-high and set a new Ritchie Coliseum record with six service winners.
