Oct. 14, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Rachel Wagener had a season-high 21 kills in a five-game win against Wake Forest tonight at the Comcast Center. The Terrapins beat the Demon Deacons (30-28, 28-30, 30-21, 26-30, 15-10) and improve their record to 16-1 (7-1 ACC) as Wake Forest falls to 8-8 (1-6 ACC).
The Terps are currently tied with North Carolina for first in the ACC and post the best overall record for the year.
"All the ACC teams are tough," coach Janice Kruger said. "You never know who will come out and surprise you. They played a tough match and we were able to focus and pull it out."
In the first game, Wake Forest pulled out to a quick lead at 3-7 before Jade Brown had a kill to halt Wake's initial offensive effort. Wake Forest's outside-hitter Jessica Furlong and middle blocker Natalie Mullikin had two kills to bring the lead to as much as seven at 6-13. Stephanie Smith's kill gave the Terps some needed momentum and narrowed the gap. The Demon Deacons were still sharp and improved their lead to 11-17 on two consecutive Maryland errors. Rachel Wagener had a dynamic cross-court kill that ignited a six-point run to eventually bring the Terps to 16-18. Libero Stephanie Doiron's service ace at 18-19 finally tied the game and the teams continuously exchanged leads, with nine ties in the final stretch. At 28-28, Wake's attack was long and Maggie Schmelzle had a kill to close the game out at 30-28.
Maryland got out to an 8-5 lead in the second game before Wake's kill by junior outside-hitter Lauren Peterson continued the fight. The Terps had some service errors, and a kill by the Deacons' Erin Brohart brought them back into the game at 13-13. The Terps continued to stay in step with the Deacons, tying the game at 24-24. Gillming dove for a dig by Mullikin but the point gave Wake Forest the slight edge it needed. Maryland fended off three game points before falling 28-30.
The Terps were stronger in the third game with Stephanie Smith coming out with a block and a kill to bring the Terps up 4-3. Maryland led by four points when a set by a Wake Forest went unanswered to bring the Terps to 15-11. Smith had two kills as the team's determination set-in with Maryland winning the third game 30-21.
Maryland again had a slight lead in the fourth game and was up 18-14. The Terrapins had a net violation and Wake's Mullikin had a kill that kept the lead for the Terps. At 25-22, Wake's Jenna Doane brought the team to a tie till a kill by Maggie Schmelzle seemed to stop the progress. Maryland had a few errors when coach Kruger called a time out at 26-28, but Wake continued to win the game 26-30.
In game five, the Terps aggressiveness was apparent as Wagener had a block at the onset of the game and Jade Brown had a kill down the line. Maryland went ahead as Wake Forest had three consecutive errors to bring the match to 5-2 before calling a time-out. The pressure was evident as the game came to a tie at 6-6, and the Terps were behind 7-8 when they changed sides at the switch. Schmelzle had two crucial kills and Maryland took two errors by Wake to bring the score to 12-8. Wagener had three kills to bring the match to a close at 15-10.
The Terps play the Duke Blue Devils on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., then travel to Boston College for a Tuesday night match-up.
