Volleyball Looking for Road Victories at NC State, North Carolina

Oct. 31, 2007

Weekly Release
Watch on ACCSelect

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

Terps searching for first conference road win

The Terrapins (14-9, 6-8) are in search of their first Atlantic Coast Conference road victory since last October as they head to Tobacco Road this weekend for matches at NC State at 7 p.m. Friday and North Carolina at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Friday's match against the Wolfpack (3-20, 0-13) looks like an ideal time for the Terps to break through on the road. Maryland's last ACC road win came last October against the Pack and Maryland has already defeated NC State this season, winning 3-1 on Sept. 29.

Watch both matches live on the Internet

Friday and Saturday's matches will both be broadcast live on the Internet via ACCSelect at http://acc.playonsports.tv/umd/. Future volleyball matches that will also appear on ACCSelect include: Nov. 10 at Florida State, Nov. 17 vs. Virginia Tech and Nov. 21 vs. Clemson.

Offense improving with Doucet's return

With junior setter Tedi Doucet (Austin, Texas) returning Oct. 16 from a foot injury, Maryland's attack has been on the upswing. When Doucet injured her foot in the season's opening weekend, Maryland head coach Janice Kruger was forced to move true freshman Rachel Profit (Washington, D.C.), who was recruited primarily as a libero, to setter, where she came off the bench to sub in for promoted starter Hayley Hanson (Huntington Beach, Calif.) in Kruger's two-setter offense.

While Hanson is still starting, there is no doubt the offense has been improved with Doucet. The team's hitting percentage has risen from .211 to .221 and Doucet has averaged over 24 assists per match and 6.4 per game.

Doucet leads the Terps in assists per game with 6.84 while Hanson averages 6.37.

Brown making push for ACC honors again

Two-time Second-Team All-ACC performer Jade Brown (Atlanta, Ga.) is doing everything in her power to make sure she is honored by the league again this season.

Brown, a natural outside hitter, has split time at hitter and middle blocker this season and has put up big numbers at both spots. Despite being an undersized middle at 5-feet-10-inches tall, Brown ascended to the top of the ACC in blocks as recently as early October, before moving back to the outside.

Brown has registered 66 kills in Maryland's past five matches with a .310 hitting percentage. Those performances earned Brown the University's female athlete of the week honor the last two weeks.

For the season, Brown is averaging 2.76 kills per game.

Terps in the ACC/National rankings

Maryland is currently first in the ACC in blocks, registering 3.51 per game and 316 total. The 316 blocks is 29 more than second-place Virginia Tech and the 3.51 average betters Tech by 0.36.

The Terps rank fifth in the entire country in blocks.

The Terps are third in opponent hitting percentage, limiting foes to .167 hitting on the season.

Sophomore middle blocker Katie Usher (Vienna, Va.) is fourth in the conference in hitting percentage, converting 34.3 percent of her attack attempts, good enough for 69th in the national rankings

Junior outside hitter Mary Beth Brown (Vienna, Va.) ranks sixth in the ACC in blocks with 118 total at an average of 1.31 per game, which ranks 65th in the nation.

Jade Brown is close behind Mary Beth in blocks, averaging 1.24 per game and 107 total.

Wolfpack at a glance

It's been another rough season for NC State volleyball. After winning three of their first four matches, the Wolfpack have lost 19 consecutive matches, including all 13 within the ACC. State has not even managed to get to a fifth game in any of those losses and nine have been sweeps, including the last three.

The Wolfpack rank last in five conference statistics and have only one player, Alex Smith, who ranks in the top 10 in any area. Smith is 10th in the conference in assists with an 8.25 a game average.

Including this season's 3-1 victory in College Park, Md., the Terps own a 35-17 edge on the Pack all-time. Overall, Maryland has won 11 straight against State, with the last loss coming in 2001 in Raleigh, N.C.

Tar Heel Tales

North Carolina (9-13, 5-8) has struggled to find consistency this season, with most victories followed up with multi-match losing streaks. The Tar Heels have only won back-to-back matches twice in 2007.

The Terps defeated the Heels in College Park in late September and this match figures to be important in the final ACC pecking order as the Heels enter the weekend only a half game behind the sixth-place Terps.

Carolina's strength, like Maryland, is in its middle. The Heels are third in the ACC in blocks, averaging 2.90 a game. Sophomore Heather Brooks leads the Tar Heel block, ranking second in the ACC in blocks per game at 1.42.

North Carolina junior Brianna Eskola will make life difficult for Maryland's attack as she currently ranks first in the league in digs with a 5.64 per game average.

The Tar Heels own a 30-22 advantage in the all-time series. The two schools have split the last 10 meetings. Maryland's last win in Chapel Hill, N.C. came in 1997.

Keeping up with Maryland athletics

For all information on Maryland volleyball or any of the University's 27 varsity sports, go to umterps.com.
-TERPS-

Volleyball Looking for Road Victories at NC State, North Carolina

Players Mentioned

Jade Brown

Mary Beth Brown

Tedi Doucet

Hayley Hanson

Rachel Profit

Katie Usher

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Volleyball Looking for Road Victories at NC State, North Carolina

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Players Mentioned

Jade Brown

Mary Beth Brown

Tedi Doucet

Hayley Hanson

Rachel Profit

Katie Usher

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