Oct. 12, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Terps host Wake Forest and Duke this weekend as they return home after being on the road for two weeks. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Friday night against Wake Forest (8-8, 1-6 ACC) at the Comcast Center Pavilion, just prior to Maryland Madness.

Maryland had its undefeated streak broken last weekend in a nail-biter against Georgia Tech, yet rebounded with a win against Clemson the following night. The Terps, now 15-1, 6-1 ACC, have the best overall record and are tied for the lead in the ACC with North Carolina (11-6, 6-1). Maryland is listed 27th in the CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Poll this week. The Terrapins were ranked #25 for the week of October 3rd, but dropped lower due to their first loss of the season.

The Terps lead in three of the six statistical categories: hitting percentage (.282), blocking (3.40) and opponents hitting percentage (.150), and are second in the remaining three categories: assists (14.28), kills (15.84) and service aces (2.00).

Senior co-captains Rachel Wagener and Stephanie Smith have guided the Terps to one of their best starts ever. Wagener and Smith are first and second in blocking with Wagener posting a 1.60 game average and Smith on her heels at 1.52 per game. Further, Wagener and Smith are second and third in hitting percentage in the ACC, averaging .395 and .369 respectively. On defense, libero Stephanie Doiron has posted 217 digs (3.74 per game).

Against ACC opponents, two of Maryland's players are top-five in service aces. Freshman Maggie Schmelzle is second with a .57 game average, sophomore Beth Gillming has a .50 average. Jade Brown is hitting .352 against ACC teams with 94 kills.

The Terps split games with the Demon Deacons in the 2004 regular season winning the first match 3-1 in Winston-Salem, then falling to Wake Forest at home, 2-3. Maryland then beat Wake Forest in the first-round of the ACC championships 3-1. Overall, Maryland leads the series against Wake Forest 19-8.

Last weekend, Wake Forest was swept by both Duke and Virginia Tech in three-game matches on the road. Wake lost to Duke (23-30, 17-30, 18-30) and fell to Virginia (29-31, 23-30 and 24-30).

Wake is hitting .196 for the year and is averaging 2.64 blocks per game. The team is led by senior setter Erin Borhart who has 109 kills to date (1.95 average), 161 digs (2.88 per game) and 279 assists (10.33) per game.

In 2004, the Terrapins went 1-1 with Duke falling in the first match-up at Duke 1-3, and winning in the Comcast Center 3-1. Maryland beat Duke in the third-round on its way to win the ACC Championship. The Terps need to make up some ground against the Blue Devils who lead the series 23-28.

Duke (10-5, 4-3 ACC) is coming off losses to Virginia and Virginia Tech last weekend. The Blue Devils lost 1-3 against Virginia then fell in five against the Hokies 2-3.

For the year, the Blue Devils are hitting .222 and are led by six-foot-two middle blocker Carrie DeMange who is averaging 4.65 kills per game and hitting .295. Sophomore Ali Hausfeld is the team's primary setter averaging 13.0 per game. Players Jenny Shull and Tealle Hanks have provided key defensive efforts with a 5.07 game average and 3.76 digs per match, respectively.

After the game against Wake Forest Friday night, the Terps play ACC-rival Duke on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the Comcast Center. Admission to games is free.