Maryland
Xavier
Terps Bounce Back, Top Xavier
9/20/2003 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 20, 2003
CHICAGO - The University of Maryland women's volleyball team (11-3) won its final game of the Loyola Flattop Grill Invitational Saturday night, beating Xavier, 3-1 (23-30, 30-27, 30-13, 30-15). The Terrapins finished the tournament in second place, while Xavier (5-6) was fourth. Southern Methodist was named tournament champion with a 3-0 record for the weekend, while host school Loyola-Chicago took third place.
Junior Jennifer Dewalt (Bethlehem, Pa.) came off the bench strong for the Terps and provided an additional attacking threat and blocking presence, as she finished with a team-high 15 kills (.458) to go with five blocks and 10 digs.
Senior right side hitter Lynnsy Jones (Castro Valley, Calif.), despite playing only three of four games against the Musketeers, posted 11 kills, three aces and four digs. Jones, who already holds school records for kills in a game (33) and kills in a season (533), added her name to another school record, surpassing Andrea Mandella for career aces. Jones now has 173 career aces, the most of any Terrapin in school history.
For the third time in as many matches, the Terrapins dropped the first game of the contest. The Musketeers, led by Kate Duchek with five kills and Danielle Skrajewski with four kills, took the first game by a score of 30-23.
Maryland tied the match by claiming the second game, 30-27, behind the middle blocking tandem of sophomores Stephanie Smith (Bethesda, Md.) and Rachel Wagener (Chesapeake, Va.). Together, the duo accounted for nearly half of the team's kills in game two. Smith was named to the all-tournament team and finished with nine kills and three blocks. Wagener contributed nine kills and seven blocks.
The Terrapins jumped out to a 17-8 lead in game three, forcing Xavier to call a timeout. When play resumed, Maryland continued its assault and would go on to win the third game by a score of 30-13. The Terps would clinch the match with a fourth-game victory, 30-15.
Junior Aimee Huddleston (Keller, Texas) was also named to the all-tournament team. She finished the match with 50 assists and 10 digs. Huddleston now has 991 career assists and will look to break 1,000 against two ACC opponents this weekend.
The Terps are back in action on Friday and Saturday when they take on their first conference opponents of the year. They will face Duke on Friday at 7 p.m. and Wake Forest on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both matches will take place in Comcast Center Gymnasium.
