Dec. 2, 2005

Final Stats

Louisville, KY. - Rachel Wagener led the University of Maryland women's volleyball team with 16 kills and 12 blocks tonight to overtake Kentucky 3-1 (25-30, 30-26, 30-24, 30-23) to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Terrapins record improves to 28-4 while Kentucky was eliminated from the tournament after the loss in Louisville Gardens. The win marks the fifth time in Terrapin history that Maryland had advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Terps were aggressive defensively throughout the match with 17 blocks to 13 for Kentucky, and had 63 digs to the Wildcats' 47. Maryland had a .164 hitting percentage for the match while keeping Kentucky to .137. Jade Brown also had 16 kills for the Terps while Maggie Schmelzle registered her 17th double-double of the season (14 kills, 19 digs). Wagener also had seven digs in the match.

"It was nice to get this game against Kentucky under our belt," said coach Janice Kruger. "This is a great experience for this young team and we'll continue to focus on our next opponent."

The two teams traded points at the start of the first game when Stephanie Smith had a tip to even the score at five. The two teams traded points to bring the score to another tie at 9-9, when Tess Edwards from Kentucky had an ace to push ahead 9-10. Kentucky had four straight points to go up 12-16. The Terps closed in within one point at 17-18 on a kill by Wagener. Kentucky gained four points on two errors by Maryland and increased the margin to 20-26. The Terps scored three straight points to inch further, yet the Wildcats profited on some Maryland hitting errors and had game point at 24-29. Wagener and Schmelzle paired up for a block to fend off game point, but the Wildcats won the game 25-30 on a Maryland error.

The second game opened on a Kentucky 0-2 lead, but Maryland pulled ahead for a 6-3 score after two kills by Brown and an error by the Wildcats. The Terps led by as many as six points at 14-8 after a Wildcat error and a kill by Mary Beth Brown. At 18-14, the Wildcats'gained two points, when the Terps answered back with a kill by Smith but lost the lead when the Wildcats scored five points to go ahead 19-21. Maryland evened the score and had three straight points on a kill by Beth Gillming and two key blocks. The Terps had seven blocks in the second game. Wagener and Brown had kills in the final stretch, followed by a block by Smith to close out the game, 30-26.

In the third game, the teams went point for point until Kentucky got ahead by three after two Maryland errors for a 7-10 score. The Terps were down 9-13 when Coach Kruger called a timeout and the Terps scored five straight points to regain the lead after three kills by Wagener, Jade Brown and Schmelzle for a 14-13 score. Kentucky tied it with a kill by Queen Nzenwa, but the Terps had another four point run. The Wildcats brought it within two, but the Terps increased their lead to 22-17 on a kill by Smith from a set by Tedi Doucet. Wagener and Mary Beth Brown paired up for a block to go up 25-22. Kentucky pulled within two at 28-26 but the Terps won the game after a kill by Jade Brown and a block by Smith closed it out for the win at 30-24.

Maryland fell behind at the start of the fourth game 3-9, when a kill by Jade Brown and two successive kills by Schmelzle sparked the team. The Terps evened the score at 13-13 and took over the lead at 15-14 on a service error by Kentucky. The Terps pushed ahead with three key blocks to go ahead 19-15 and never lost the lead. Gillming had a key dig to set up a kill by Wagener for a 25-19 score. The Wildcats scored the next two points, but the Terps had kills by M. B. Brown, Schmelzle with the final kill coming from J. Brown to win the game, 30-23.

Maryland plays the winner of the Louisville and Western Kentucky match Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in Louisville Gardens.