Oct. 24, 2008
Box Score
DURHAM, N.C. -
Senior right side Mary Beth Brown posted team highs with eight kills on .389 hitting, but the University of Maryland volleyball team dropped a three-set match at Duke Friday evening, 22-25, 19-25 and 18-25.
Maryland (5-17, 1-9 ACC) started strongly in the first set, going on an early 8-3 run to grab an 11-6 lead. Two kills by sophomore Brittney Grove helped Maryland score three of the next four points to increase the lead to seven, doubling the Blue Devils (16-6, 7-3 ACC) early, 14-7.
A Meredith Doyle kill put the Terrapins up by five, 19-14 late in the set, but the Blue Devils rallied from that point. Three kills by Jourdan Norman cut the Duke deficit to two, 20-18, and then Sue Carls contributed back-to-back kills to even the score for the first time since 3-3. Norman scored two more times to complete a 6-0 Duke run to put the Blue Devils up 23-20 and they finished off the win, 25-22.
The Terps put forth another strong effort at the beginning of the second set, scoring the first five points of the session. A block by Doyle and Maddie Lee maintained the five-point cushion at 9-4, but Maryland then ran into trouble.
A pair of Maryland ball-handling errors aided a 10-1 Duke run, as the Blue Devils stormed to a 14-10 lead and never looked back. The Terps recorded the next two points to get within two, but a 6-1 Blue Devils run made the score 20-13 en route to a 25-19 Duke win, putting the Blue Devils up 2-0 in the match, heading into the intermission.
Duke started quickly in the third set, taking a 10-6 lead, but this time Maryland came charging back. The Terps twice got within one point at 14-13 and 15-14, but could not come up with the equalizer. Duke turned the slight 15-14 advantage into a somewhat commanding 20-15 lead, forcing a Maryland timeout. The Terps got no closer than four the rest of the set, falling by seven, 18-25.
The Blue Devils out-hit the Terps, .270 to .168.
Grove and Lee had seven kills each for the Terps. Lee added three blocks and Grove had 10 digs. Doyle and junior Katie Usher registered three blocks apiece. Freshman Sharon Strizak led the Terps with 15 assists, while also posting a pair of service aces. Junior Hayley Hanson also had two aces.
Norman and Becci Burling tied for the match high of 11 kills.
The Terps complete the weekend road trip with a 5 p.m. match at Wake Forest Saturday.
-TERPS-
