Volleyball Making Final Road Trip of the Season

Nov. 7, 2007

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

Terrapins close out road schedule in sunny Florida

After earning its first Atlantic Coast Conference road victory of the season last Friday at NC State, the University of Maryland volleyball team will attempt to finish this year's away slate on a positive note with matches at Miami on Friday and Florida State on Saturday.

Mapping out Miami

The Terps (15-10, 7-9) have gotten the better of Miami (11-14, 5-11) since the Hurricanes joined the ACC prior to the 2004 season. Maryland is 6-2 in that timeframe, including a postseason victory in the 2004 ACC Tournament.

Maryland defeated Miami Oct. 13 this season in four games in College Park, Md. Junior outside hitter Mary Beth Brown (Vienna, Va.) paced the Terps with 13 kills in the victory.

After a promising start to conference play, including a weekend road sweep of Virginia and Virginia Tech, the Hurricanes have fallen on hard times since. The Hurricanes have lost 10 of their last 13 matches. However, the Canes have won two of their last three overall, knocking off Virginia Tech at home and Wake Forest on the road.

The Terps are 1-2 all-time at Miami with the sole win coming in 2005.

Freshman setter Katie Gallagher will be a player to watch for Miami. Gallagher is sixth in the conference in assists (10.53 per game) and second in service aces (59).

Streaking Seminoles

The Florida State Seminoles (12-12, 9-7) have been on a bit of a tear lately, winning six of their last seven matches. The only loss came in five games at No. 14 Duke last weekend. The Seminoles have not lost at home since Oct. 7 at the hands of the first-place Clemson Tigers.

The Terps dispatched of the Seminoles in four games on Oct. 12 this year thanks to 16 kills each from senior outside hitters Jade Brown (Atlanta, Ga.) and Beth Gillming (Cincinnati, Ohio).

Maryland is 18-12 against Florida State all-time and has won seven of the last 10 matchups. The Terps have had some success in Tallahassee, as well, claiming victories there in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Junior Mira Djuric is a powerful player who the Terps will need to contain if they are to leave Florida State with a victory. Djuric is fifth in the ACC in kills, averaging 4.03 a game and is the league's premier server, notching 71 aces to this point of the season. Djuric is fourth in the entire country in service aces.

Terps in the NCAA/ACC rankings

Maryland leads the ACC in blocks at 3.42 a game and is sixth in the NCAA.

The Terps rank third in the ACC in opponent hitting percentage, holding teams to a .168 mark.

Sophomore middle blocker Katie Usher (Vienna, Va.) ranks sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a .332 hitting percentage.

Mary Beth Brown is fifth in the league in blocks with an average of 1.28 per game. Her 113 block assists are second in the ACC.

Jade Brown is 10th in blocks with 1.18 per game.

Watch Maryland-FSU on ACCSelect

Saturday's match at Florida State will be broadcast live on the Internet via ACCSelect at http://acc.playonsports.tv/umd/.

The Nov. 17 match against Virginia Tech and the Nov. 21 match against Clemson will also be shown on ACCSelect.

Track the Terps online

For the most up-to-date information on Maryland volleyball or any of the University's 27 varsity sports, go to www.umterps.com.

-TERPS-

Players Mentioned

Jade Brown

Mary Beth Brown

Beth Gillming

Katie Usher

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