Volleyball Headed to Commonwealth this Weekend

Oct. 4, 2007

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

Terps try to carry momentum to the Commonwealth

After last weekend's victories against North Carolina and NC State, the Terrapins (10-4, 2-3) will try to use that momentum in this weekend's road matches at Virginia Tech (7-8, 1-4) and Virginia (8-6, 3-2). The Terps travel to Blacksburg, Va. Friday for a 7 p.m. match against the Hokies and then make the trip upstate to Charlottesville, Va. for a 5 p.m. meeting Saturday with the Cavaliers.

Gillming the Great

Senior outside hitter Beth Gillming (Cincinnati, Ohio) was honored as the Atlantic Coast Conference Volleyball Player of the Week on Tuesday. Gillming registered 30 kills on .338 hitting with 33 digs in last weekend's victories over the Tar Heels and Wolfpack. Gillming's selection was Maryland's first conference player of the week representative since senior Jade Brown (Atlanta, Ga.) won it in September 2006.

In addition to her ACC Player of the Week selection, Gillming was chosen as the University of Maryland's Female Athlete of the Week, the second time she has been honored as such this season.

Gillming leads the Terps in five statistical categories this season: kills (176), kills per game (3.14), total attacks (440), digs (214) and digs per game (3.82).

Leaderboard check

Middle blocker/outside hitter Jade Brown continues to climb the Maryland all-time leaderboard in several categories as her senior season approaches its midpoint. After last weekend's performance, Brown is tied for seventh place on Maryland's all-time kills list with Stephanie Smith at 1,140. With eight more kills, Brown will move into sixth place ahead of Kelly Malins and with 34 more, she will pass former Terrapin great Rachel Wagener for fifth place.

Brown's 3,059 career attack attempts is the fourth most in Maryland history, only 125 behind Colleen Hurley for third place.

Brown moved into sixth place in school history in block assists in last weekend's NC State win. Brown's 247 block assists put her within range of cracking the top five this weekend. If Brown can amass 15 block assists this weekend, she will pass Shannon Saltzman for fifth in school history. Brown passed Saltzman in total blocks last weekend and moved into sixth place with 300 in her career.

With one more point, Brown will move into seventh place in school history. Brown currently has 1,347.5 points in her career.

Beth Gillming needs one more service ace to pass Nicole Lantagne for fifth all-time at Maryland. Both Gillming and Lantagne are tied at 104, with Amanda Ayres close by in fourth place with 106.

With her 24-dig performance against North Carolina last weekend, Gillming passed Carey Brennan for third-place all-time in school history. Gillming's 1,351 career digs are only 34 shy of Eden Kroeger's second-place mark of 1,385. Nicole Lantagne is Maryland's all-time leader with 1,668 digs.

Junior outside hitter/libero Maggie Schmelzle (Cincinnati, Ohio) is tied for seventh with Duane Koester in Terrapin history with 979 career digs, only 23 shy of Maria DiLivio's 1,002.

With 15 block assists, junior outside hitter Mary Beth Brown (Vienna, Va.) will move into a three-way tie for third place all-time with 303.

ACC leaders

Sophomore middle blocker Katie Usher (Vienna, Va.) is seventh in the ACC in hitting percentage at .353.

Jade Brown leads the league in blocks with 85 and 1.63 per game. Mary Beth Brown is sixth with 1.34 per game.

Beth Gillming is 10th in digs with 3.82 a game.

As a team, the Terps rank first in the conference in blocks with 3.47 a game and opponent hitting percentage at .136.

Familiar faces in different places

This weekend's match at Virginia will feature some former high-school teammates going up against each other at the college level.

Virginia's Shannon Davis and Lauren Dickson both attended Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, the same high school as Maryland's injured setter, Tedi Doucet.

The Cavs' Beth Shelton is a familiar face for the Terps' Beth Gillming, Maggie Schmelzle and Michelle Kenning. All four attended the prestigious St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio.

A look at the Hokies

After a 4-0 start to the season, Virginia Tech has gone 3-8 since. The Hokies are 1-4 in league play with the only win coming in a 3-0 home victory against Florida State. In its last two matches at Clemson and Georgia Tech, respectively, Virginia Tech has only won one game.

Like the Terps, the Hokies' strength is in its defense. Tech ranks second in the ACC in blocks and third in opponent hitting percentage. Freshman Felicia Willoughby is second in the league in blocks with 1.51 a game and junior Kristen Cunningham is fifth at 1.37 a game.

The Terps are 6-2 all-time against the Hokies, with both of Tech's victories coming last season.

The Virginia file

The Virginia Cavaliers have been an inconsistent bunch this season. The Cavs boast solid victories against the likes of Texas Tech, Arizona State and UC Santa Barbara out of conference as well as at Georgia Tech in conference. However, Virginia has also lost to Miami and Boston College.

The Cavs do not rank in the top three of the ACC in any team categories. Individually, senior Sarah Kirkwood ranks second in points (5.27 a game), second in kills (4.58 a game) and fifth in service aces (26). Senior Katie Oakes is fourth in blocks with 1.43 a game.

Maryland owns a significant edge in the all-time series with Virginia with a 32-14 all-time record. The two clubs have split the last 10 meetings.

-TERPS-

Players Mentioned

Jade Brown

Mary Beth Brown

Tedi Doucet

Beth Gillming

Michelle Kenning

Maggie Schmelzle

Katie Usher

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