Dec. 3, 2005

Box Score

Louisville, KY - The University of Maryland women's volleyball team fell 3-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament tonight against a tough Louisville Cardinal offense. The Terps finish out the season with a 28-5 record while Louisville (31-2) advances to the third round against the University of Florida next week. Game scores were 23-30, 26-30 and 28-30.

Maryland had nine and a half blocks for the match with a .161 hitting percentage. The Terps were led by sophomore Jade Brown (11 kills, 3 blocks) while Louisville's Lena Ustymenko had the match high of 20 kills for the night. Terrapins Rachel Wagener, Maggie Schmelzle and Mary Beth Brown all had eight kills for the match.

The season marks one of the best finishes in eight years for the Terps. It was the fifth appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for Maryland.

"Our fight was there," said coach Janice Kruger. "This young squad played with a lot of determination. It's tough to play Louisville at home, but I'm really proud of the way this team played."

The two teams traded points at the start of the first game when, at 5-5, Stephanie Smith had a kill from a set by Teryn Papp to go ahead 6-5. Maryland pushed ahead by two points at 11-9 after an attack error by Louisville. M. B. Brown and Stephanie Smith had a key block to go up by two again at 15-13 when Louisville called a time out. The Cardinals evened the score up after a Maryland error and a kill by Ustymenko. A Maryland block dropped out, followed by three quick points from Louisville and the Terps fell behind by three at 18-21. Louisville pushed ahead to 21-25 on two kills by Ustymenko. The Cardinals kept the margin and moved ahead to 21-27 when Smith had a tip followed by a block with Schmelzle to come within two points at 23-27. The Terps had two errors followed by an ace by Jennifer Craven for the Louisville win, 23-30.

The Terps hit .195 in the first game and had four and a half blocks while Louisville had a .216 hitting percentage with four blocks. Wagener led the team with four kills as Smith had three blocks in the first game.

Maryland and Louisville went point for point in the early part of the second game when the Terps pulled ahead 6-5 on a kill by M. B. Brown. The Cardinals evened the score on a kill by Rui Liu and went ahead by 7-9. Maryland pulled ahead 11-10 after an ace by Schmelze, but the Cards fought back and went ahead by six points at 16-22. The Terps then brought the score within three after an ace by Tedi Doucet and a tip by Smith for a 22-25 score. The Cardinals scored two points after a block and a kill by Ustymenko. Smith and M.B. Brown paired up again for a block to bring the game within four points at 25-29, but Louisville responded with a tip to close out the game, 26-30.

The Terps fell behind in the beginning of the third game 3-6, but evened the score after a tip from Wagener, a solo block by Beth Gillming and a shared block from J. Brown and Smith. Louisville then pulled ahead to 8-10. Wagener and Gillming paired up for a block for a 15-16 score, then Louisville had a double contact error for a tie at 16. At 18-19, the Terps scored two straight points for a brief lead, when the Cards responded back with three points, two from blocks. After a Maryland timeout at 25-28, the Terps had scored two straight points on kills from J. Brown and Smith for 27-28. Louisville then had a kill and an error, yet won the match on an attack error by Maryland for a final game score of 28-30.

For more information on the University of Maryland women's volleyball team, please visit www.umterps.com.