Nov. 22, 2003

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. - The second-seeded Maryland Terrapins defeated the sixth-seeded Clemson Tigers, 3-0 (30-26, 31-29, 30-25) Saturday afternoon at the Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. Senior Lynnsy Jones led the Terrapin attack with a .419 hitting percentage connecting on 14 kills, nine digs, two blocks and two service aces. With the win, Terps' head coach Janice Kruger became the all-time winningest coach in ACC volleyball history. She now has 302 ACC wins with Maryland and surpassed former Duke coach Jon Wilson's 301 conference victories.

Sarah Treadwell continued her strong performance at the conference tournament, posting 11 kills and eight digs, while Jennifer Dewalt had a stellar performance off the bench with nine kills (.350), two digs and two blocks. Rachel Wagener hit a team-high .643, had nine kills and added six blocks.

Clemson opened the match with a 12-3 run, gaining an early nine-point lead, but the Terrapins would chip away and eventually tie the score at 21. The first Maryland lead came at 22-21 after a kill by Treadwell, and the Terrapins benefited from four service aces and three team blocks to take game one, 30-26. Jones led Maryland in game one with four kills, while Dewalt came up with two kills and a block and the Terrapins hit .303 as a team.

The teams played to 12 ties before the final knot of game two at 29-29. The Terps got a kill from Jones and another from Stephanie Smith on game point to win the game, 31-29. Maryland continued to hit well as a team with a .278 second-game attack percentage and got five kills from Treadwell for the victory.

Maryland gained the advantage in the early going of game three leading by as many as three at 10-7, but three straight Clemson points including a pair of kills by junior Lori Ashton tied the game at ten. The Terps stormed back out in front behind the service of Jones to extend their lead to three at 15-12. But just as quickly as Clemson cut the lead to one, Maryland went on a 4-0 run to increase their margin to five at 19-14 lead. The Terps refused to relinquish the lead as they took the third game 30-25.

Stephanie Doiron notched six digs for the Terps, and Lauren Wilson added five in the total team effort. Stephanie Smith finished with seven kills and a career-high six digs for the Terps.

With the win Maryland advances to Sunday's championship final where they will face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for the third time in conference history. In the previous two meetings, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Terrapins 3-0 in 1995, while the Terps won 3-0 in 1996. Maryland runs their record to 25-7, while Clemson drops to 18-16.

Sunday's 3:30 championship match will be broadcast live on Comcast Sports Net, Fox Sports Net South and the Sunshine Network.