Aug. 19, 2005
Maryland volleyball began preseason practices on Aug. 11. The 2005 Terrapins return eight letterwinners from last year's ACC Championship squad, and open their season on Sept. 2-3 with the Courtyard by Marriott Ft. Meade Invitational at Comcast Center Pavilion. Recently, redshirt freshman Mary Beth Brown and sophomore Beth Gillming checked in with umterps.com to give a preseason update on the team.
Talk about preseason practices so far.
Beth Gillming: I'm really happy with how the season has begun. Everyone is focused and we're all on the same page.
Mary Beth Brown: We got over our initial soreness and now we're starting to be productive and set up our new offensive system. Things are definitely starting to come together.
How were your summers? Do anything exciting?
Mary Beth Brown: We had a lot of fun. We took a weekend trip to Ocean City and I went to Los Angeles and saw a lot of B-list celebrities in LAX airport. I saw Tom Arnold, Lisa Leslie and some other WNBA players and Harriet Winslow from Family Matters!
Beth Gillming: We were here most of the summer taking classes, working out and working camps. But I did manage to get home to Cincinnati. There is a lot going on in Cincinnati - Justin Jeffries is running for mayor. He's from 98 degrees with Nick Lachey ... and Jerry Springer was our ex-mayor. I also went on vacation to the beach with my family, it was a really good time. I had a great time with my niece Callie, who is four months old and so cute.
How is the dynamic with this year's team?
Beth Gillming: It seems like it's a completely fresh start because there are so many underclassmen. Our three seniors (Stephanie Smith, Stephanie Doiron and Rachel Wagener) have been great also, it's nice to have their leadership back.
Mary Beth Brown: The freshmen are being incorporated well to the team. We're happy to have them here and we're hoping they can contribute this year.
Beth Gillming: And we had a bonding experience this week going bowling.
Mary Beth Brown: We had a lot of fun bowling. The big winners were myself, Jade Brown, Rachel Wagener and Coach [Janice Kruger].
Beth Gillming: Yeah, Janice is a pro bowler [winks].
How does the schedule look this year? Which matches are you looking forward to?
Mary Beth Brown: We're excited to start off with a home tournament, then we go off to New York and Pittsburgh before we start a tough ACC schedule. We're looking forward to playing everyone in the league twice, and defending our two-time ACC title.
Are you excited for school to start?
Beth Gillming: We're excited, it's my second year so I know the ropes. We are also extremely excited to watch the new season of Saturday Night Live on road trips!
