Volleyball Participating in Towson Invitational this Weekend
9/18/2008 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 18, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland volleyball team faces its final pre-conference test this weekend when it makes the short trip north to Towson, Md. for the Towson Invitational.
The Terrapins (2-7) face the host Towson Tigers at 7 p.m. Friday and then play a pair of matches Saturday, beginning with Lehigh at 10:30 a.m. and concluding with North Dakota at 4:30 p.m.
Maryland went 1-2 at the Allstate Sugar Bowl at Tulane University last weekend, losing to North Dakota State and Tulane, with a win against Jacksonville State sandwiched between.
The Terps are led by junior middle blocker Katie Usher, who leads the team with 78 kills and 32 blocks. Defensively, sophomore Bethany Springer is fourth in the ACC in digs, averaging 4.27 per set. The Terps, as a team, rank in the top 50 nationally in digs, with a 15.66-per-set average.
The Towson Tigers are 8-3 on the season, already surpassing last season's win total of seven. The Tigers are led by a pair of senior outside hitters in Maddie Haseltine and Ally Perko. Haseltine, the reigning CAA Player of the Week has 118 kills this season.
Maryland has dominated the all-time series with the Tigers, winning 23 of the 24 matchups. The two teams last met in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, with the Terps winning in straight sets.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks are 4-5, but have won three of their last four matches after a 1-4 start. Lehigh's service game is the strength of the team. The Mountain Hawks rank 14th in the nation with 57 aces, averaging more than two per set. Freshman Jessica Kudirka is 16th nationally with 17 aces.
The Terps are 2-0 all-time against Lehigh, with the last meeting coming in 1987.
The North Dakota Fighting Sioux are in their first season as a Division I member. However, the Sioux have yet to face a D-I opponent this season, winning 12 of 13 matchups against lower competition. Four Sioux players have over 100 kills already this season. The two teams have never played one another.
Records Watch
• Senior outside hitter Maggie Schmelzle is only five digs shy of moving into third place in school history. Schmelzle has 1,380 career digs, five behind former Terp great Eden Kroeger.
• Schmelzle is also threatening to crack the top 10 in career service aces. Schmelzle has 89 career aces, only one behind Lindsay Davey for the 10th spot and two shy of ninth place.
• Senior right side Mary Beth Brown is two blocks away from 400 in her career, which would put her in fourth place in school history with Sherry Smith. Brown is 20 blocks shy of Kelli Myers for third place all-time.
-TERPS-
