Nov. 4, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Sophomore outside hitter Jade Brown led the Terps tonight with 18 kills in a 3-1 (30-20, 30-32, 30-23, 30-19) victory over the Virginia Cavaliers before a crowd of 1,074 at the Comcast Center. Maryland improves its record to 14-1 in the ACC (23-1 overall) to remain first in the league as Virginia drops to 10-5 in the ACC (15-9 overall).

The victory marks the ninth straight win for the #25 Terrapins who are undefeated at home this year. The Terps have won 29 of their last 31 matches and post the second-best start in coach Janice Kruger's 18-year career with Maryland.

"Our blocking was strong tonight and it paid off," said Kruger. "Virginia is a tough team. We altered our serving strategy and stayed aggressive. I'm proud of the way they pulled together after the second game."

The Terps had 13 blocks on the night while the Cavaliers were held to three. Maryland hit .321 for the night and had four players that tallied ten or more kills: Rachel Wagener (13), Maggie Schmelzle (13) and Beth Gillming (11). Cincinnati natives Schmelzle and Gillming both had double-doubles for the night, with Schmelzle (13 kills, 13 digs) posting her twelfth of the year and sixth in a row for the Terps, while Gillming (11 kills, 13 digs) notched her sixth of the year.

The Terps were aggressive early and built an 11-6 lead on a pair of kills by Mary Beth Brown, both of which were assisted by freshman setter Tedi Doucet. After a kill by Wagener, J. Brown tipped the ball for the score to increase Maryland's lead to 17-9. Virginia closed in and came within four points on a kill by Beth Shelton to go 20-16. At 24-18, Schmelzle's attack forced a double hit by Virginia and Maryland did not relinquish the lead, eventually winning 30-20.

Virginia challenged the Terps in the second game as the Terps were up 6-4 when the Cavaliers scored three straight points to take the lead on Emily Perilli's serve. The two teams went point-for-point before Maryland scored four in a row on Gillming's serve. Virginia went on a six-point run to take the lead at 17-21. Maryland regrouped and kept the game within two, until Virginia had their first game point at 27-29 when Marlow Bruneau had the kill. The Terps tied the game twice in the final stretch and fended off three game points before dropping the third game 30-32.

The two teams fought hard in the beginning of the third game bringing the score to a 5-5 tie. The Terrapins attained the lead on kills by Stephanie Smith and Schmelzle to bring the game to 8-6. Virginia's primary setter, Emily Kirkwood, had the match high of 50 sets for the night, and assisted outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood on a kill to tie the game at 18. On Doucet's serve, the Terrapins went on a five point-run to take control of the game at 25-21. Schmelzle played strong defensively with 13 kills for the night, and provided a key dig and a kill for the Terps to go up 28-22. Schmelzle and Wagener shared a block on an attack by Sarah Kirkwood, who had 19 kills on the night, for another point while Doucet's pinpoint set for Wagener provided the kill for a final game score of 30-23.

The Terps' solid blocking was evident as J. Brown and Smith paired up at the onset of the fourth game for a quick 5-2 lead. Maryland extended its lead to 9-5 on a kill by Gillming, and to 16-10 on a kill by J. Brown. The Terps forced some errors on Virginia, building a 12 point lead at 27-15. Maryland won the game on a kill by Wagener with the assist by Doucet.

The Terps face Virginia Tech (6-9 ACC, 11-13) on Sunday at 1:00 at the Comcast Center.

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