Nov. 19, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland volleyball coach Janice Kruger was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coach of the Year for guiding the Terrapins to a 23-7 record and second-place finish in the ACC. The award is the fourth for Kruger, who is in her 16th season at Maryland.

Three Terrapins earned All-ACC recognition in addition to Kruger's award. Aimee Huddleston garnered first team honors, while Lynnsy Jones and Rachel Wagener were named to the second team.

Huddleston, a junior setter from Keller, Texas, earned all-conference honors for the first time in her career. The team captain orchestrated a Maryland offense that hit .265 for the year and broke the single-season assist record on Nov. 14. She now has 1,441 assists in 2003, the best single-season mark in Terrapin history. Huddleston averaged over 12.5 assists per game in regular-season play and also excelled on offense (1.14 kills per game) and defense (1.09 blocks per game).

Jones, a four-year standout for the Terrapins, also got the first all-conference nod of her career by being named to the second team. Jones, who is the school record-holder for kills in a season, kills in a game and career service aces, notched her 1,000th career kill on Sept. 12 against College of Charleston. She has led the team in kills all year, ending the regular season with a 3.63 per-game average, and was named MVP of the DoubleTree Boca Bash (Sept. 6) and Terrapin Invitational (Sept. 13).

Wagener, an All-Freshman team selection a year ago, was named to the second team. The sophomore middle blocker led the ACC in blocks for seven straight weeks over the course of the regular season, and was consistently one of the top five blockers in the nation. Wagener broke the school record for block assists in a season on Oct. 21 at Wake Forest and is nearing the single-season school record for total blocks in a season. She also averaged 2.40 kills per game in regular season play.

The Terrapins begin play in the ACC Tournament on Friday, Nov. 21, when they take on Duke at 5 p.m. at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.