Dec. 2, 2004
2004 NCAA VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
FIRST ROUND: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 5 p.m.
MARYLAND (17-14, 7-9) vs. TOWSON (25-8, 13-1)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. * REC HALL (6,846)
The University of Maryland volleyball team travels to the campus of Penn State to take on in-state rival Towson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at 5 p.m. Following the Terps-Tigers match, the No. 2 seed and host Nittany Lions will square off with American at 7 p.m. The winners of Friday's matches will meet Saturday at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.
Noting The Terrapins
The Terrapins earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament after winning their second-consecutive ACC Championship with a 3-0 victory over North Carolina on Nov. 21. The seventh-seed in the tournament, Maryland won four hard-fought matches en route to the fourth conference crown in school history.
Head coach Janice Kruger's squad has won five matches in a row, including a 3-2 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 27 in Comcast Center Pavilion to close out the regular season.
Although they finished the regular season with a 7-9 ACC mark, the Terrapins are now 17-14 and riding their longest win streak of the season.
Noting the Terrapins at the NCAA Tournament
The Terps are making their sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Maryland's all-time record at the tournament is 3-5 since 1990 with second-round appearances in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2003. This is the first time since 1996 that the Terrapins will play a NCAA match on the road, as College Park was a host site in 1997 and 2003.
Since 1990, Maryland's NCAA Tournament wins have come over Miami (Ohio), Princeton and American (a possible second-round opponent this weekend), while its losses have come at the hands of Texas, Louisville, Ohio State (twice) and Colorado State.
Each of Maryland's six trips to the national tournament have been under head coach Janice Kruger.
If the Terrapins are able to advance to the regional round in Seattle, Wash., they will be the first Maryland team to ever do so.
Eight out of 16 Terrapins on this year's roster have NCAA Tournament experience.
Scouting Towson
The Tigers have a 25-8 overall record and earned an automatic NCAA Tournament berth by winning their first-ever Colonial Athletic Association title.
Towson is making its first-ever tournament appearance.
Towson is led by Sarah Miller with 340 kills on the year (3.24 per game) and April Hoffman with 338 kills (3.13 per game). Liz Goubeaux leads the team in blocking by averaging 1.29 per game while also contributing over three kills per game.
Maryland leads the all-time series with Towson, 22-1, including a 3-0 victory on Sept. 15 in Comcast Center Pavilion. The series dates back to 1972, and Towson's only win over the Terps came on Oct. 29, 1976 - a 2-1 (7-15, 15-5, 15-13) victory in Salisbury, Md.
Terps' head coach Janice Kruger is 4-0 all-time vs. the Tigers, with victories in the 1004, 2002, 2003 and 2004 seasons.
In the teams' last meeting, Terrapin Sarah Treadwell led all players with 18 kills and Maria DiLivio registered the only double-double of the match as Maryland topped Towson, 3-0 (30-26, 33-31, 30-22).
Towson head coach Chris Riley is in his fifth season as the head coach of Towson. Since becoming the Tigers' coach in 2000, he has led the Tigers to a pair of conference regular season championships, a tournament title in 2004 and four-straight 20-win seasons.
A Look at Penn State and American
Penn State is making its 24th-consecutive NCAA appearance and was selected as the No. 2 seed in this year's tournament after finishing the year with a 27-2 overall record and winning the Big Ten Conference. The Nittany Lions' only losses were at the hands of then-No. 1 Minnesota and then-No. 7 Ohio State. PSU is currently on an 11-match win streak and compiled a 14-2 mark in Rec Hall this season.
Ashley Pederson leads the Nittany Lions with 3.80 kills per game, while Kim Holm and Melissa Walbridge average over a block a game.
Penn State is coached by Russ Rose, who is in his 26th season.
Penn State won the national championship in 1999.
American earned an automatic berth to the tournament by winning its fourth-consecutive Patriot League title. The Eagles have a 24-6 record in 2004.
American is making its sixth overall appearance at the NCAA Tournament and is seeking its first-ever tournament win.
The Terrapins ousted the Eagles from the tournament in 2003, defeating them 3-0 in College Park.
Terps In The ACC and National Rankings
Maryland leads the ACC and is ranked 13th nationally in blocks, as the Terps average 3.12 per game. Leading the way is Stephanie Smith, Rachel Wagener and Jennifer Dewalt, who each average at least one block per game for the Terps. Smith, with 1.42 bpg, ranks third in the conference, while Wagner is right behind her (1.37 bpg, fourth in the ACC). Wagener also leads the Terps and is fifth in the conference in hitting percentage (.322), while setter Aimee Huddleston ranks seventh for assists with 12.11 per game.
Wagener and Brown: All-ACC
Rachel Wagener is a second-team All-ACC honoree and Jade Brown is a member of the ACC all-freshman squad, the conference announced at the annual tournament banquet.
Wagener, a two-time second team member, has led the Terps' block all season while also contributing offensive firepower. Already the school record-holder for blocks in a season (200 in 2003), block assists in a season (177 in 2003, also an ACC record) and career block assists (390), the junior also recently set the career mark for total blocks, previously 417 set by Kelli Myers from 1987-89. With 445 rejections in just her third season, Wagener surpassed Myers' mark to become the most prolific blocker in Terrapin history.
Brown, who recorded her first-career kill on Oct. 2 at North Carolina, has exploded onto the conference scene by averaging over three kills per game and notching 200 kills so far this season. The Atlanta, Ga., native has reached double-digits in kills nine times, highlighted by a 24-kill performance vs. Wake Forest on Oct. 22
Record-Breaking Tournament
Three Terrapins were awarded all-tournament honors at this year's ACC Championship. Sarah Treadwell earned Most Valuable Player, while Aimee Huddleston and Jennifer Dewalt were named to the all-tournament team. For Treadwell, it was her second time earning all-tournament honors but her first MVP award, while Huddleston is a two-time all-tournament selection and Dewalt garnered the honor for the first time in her career.
Treadwell's four-day total of 70 kills tied an ACC Tournament record. Huddleston's 228 assists in four matches was also a tournament record, along with Stephanie Smith's 30 blocks.
Freshman Beth Gillming, who has played in all but one game and every match for the Terrapins, also set a new tournament record for digs with 87. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has reached the 30-dig plateau twice this season and is the only current Terp to do so.
Record Watch
Sarah Treadwell notched her 1,000th-career dig on Sept. 25 at Wake Forest. The senior headed into the match needing nine to hit the milestone and recorded 11 on the night. Treadwell now has 1,266 for her career and sits in fourth place on Maryland's career charts. She is 63 digs away from Carey Brennan's four-year total and third-place mark, 1,329.
Senior Maria DiLivio became the seventh Terrapin to reach 1,000 career kills on Nov. 27 vs. Miami (Ohio). With 998 going into the match, DiLivio posted 15 kills on the night and now has 1,013 for her career. She is seventh on Maryland's career charts and 40 away from Daune Koester's total of 1,053. The outside hitter also has a chance to join the elite club of Maryland players to tally both 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. She needs 22 to become the second Terp ever to accomplish the feat.
Steady Hand
One of the Terrapins' co-captains, now in her second season orchestrating the Maryland offense, is setter Aimee Huddleston. Huddleston has been rock solid for the Terps, as she is averaging over 12 assists per game and recently recorded her 3,000th-career assist. With 3,479 assists throughout her four years on the Terrapin roster, Huddleston currently sits in fourth place on Maryland's all-time charts for the category, and is just the fourth Terrapin to reach the 3,000 career assist mark (Eden Kroeger, Lindsay Davey and Nicole Lantagne are the others).
Also important to note is Huddleston's versatility, a characteristic she has become known for throughout her career. She is also averaging over two digs and nearly one block per game for the Terps, and has also notched 103 kills in 2004.
Last Time Out: Maryland 3, Miami (Ohio) 2
The University of Maryland volleyball team defeated Miami University (Ohio) in Comcast Center Pavilion, 3-2 (30-16, 25-30, 30-27, 25-30, 15-9). The Terps won their fifth-straight match to improve to 17-14 on the year.
Terp senior Maria DiLivio led all players with 15 kills and 15 digs and also recorded her 1,000th-career kill. DiLivio needed two to reach the milestone and has now had 1,013 kills as a Terrapin. DiLivio was joined in double-figures in kills by Jennifer Dewalt (16), Sarah Treadwell (11), Rachel Wagener (14) and Stephanie Smith (11).
Wagener was dominant on both sides of the net, as she registered a match-high eight blocks to go with her offensive productivity.
Dewalt's 16 kills were a match-high, and she also contributed five digs and three blocks.
Freshman Beth Gillming delivered another standout performance at libero, tallying a match-high 23 digs a career-high tying four aces.
The Terps jumped out to a one-game lead after a 30-16 victory to open the match. Maryland hit .394 en route to the win. From there, the teams went back and forth as Miami earned a 30-25 second-game victory, Maryland won the third-game 30-27 and Miami bounced back in game four with a 30-25 victory. The decisive fifth game was all Terapins, as they out-hit Miami, .296-.111, and got the 15-9 victory.
Maryland Picked To Finish Second In ACC
The University of Maryland volleyball team was selected to finish second in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll. The Terrapins, who earned the school's third ACC title a season ago, earned 112 points and finished just behind Georgia Tech with 116 points. Rounding out the top was North Carolina (93) and Wake Forest (78).
Huddleston And Wagener: Preseason All-ACC
Senior setter Aimee Huddleston, a first-team All-ACC selection last season, and Rachel Wagener, a second-team honoree in 2003, represent Maryland on the preseason All-ACC squad.
Huddleston is averaging 12.11 assists per game while contributing 2.14 digs per game.
Wagener is averaging 2.62 kills per game and has posted 164 blocks on the year (1.37 per game).
Kruger Embarks On 17th Season At Maryland
Janice Kruger, who became the ACC's all-time winningest coach last season, returns for her 17th year at the helm of the Terrapins. Her record at Maryland is 321-210, while her overall record is 696-315-6. Last season's ACC Coach of the Year and AVCA Region Coach of the Year, Kruger recently won her fourth ACC Championship and will make her sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
2004 Schedule: One Of The Toughest
Maryland, which captured the ACC Championship last season en route to its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, faced three teams that advanced to the 2003 NCAA Sweet Sixteen within the first two weeks of the fall schedule.
Maryland's home tournament took place on Sept. 17-18 in Comcast Center Pavilion and proved that its home court is a tough place to play. With four wins at home in the 2004 campaign, Maryland is now 13-5 all-time in Comcast Center.
The Terps opened the ACC portion of their schedule on Sept. 24-25 at Duke and Wake Forest, earning a victory over the Demon Deacons but falling to the Blue Devils.
New to the ACC this year are Miami and Virginia Tech. Miami head coach, Nicole Lantagne Welch, is a former Maryland setter and faced her former coach in Kruger. The Terps prevailed in a five-game battle in the first volleyball meeting between the teams.
The Terrapins won the fourth ACC Championship in school history and became the first team to repeat as champs since North Carolina in 2000 and 2001 when they beat the Tar Heels, 3-0, on Nov. 21.
The team defeated its final regular-season opponent of the year on Nov. 27, besting Miami (Ohio), 3-2.
