Sept. 26, 2008

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of Maryland volleyball team lost its Atlantic Coast Conference road opener at North Carolina Friday night, getting swept in straight sets and seeing its three-match winning streak end in the process.

After a tight first set, the Tar Heels (7-5, 1-0 ACC) cruised in the second and third sets to take the match, 25-23, 25-16 and 25-10.

The Tar Heels scored the first four points of the first set, but the Terps (5-9, 1-1 ACC) rallied to claim seven of the next eight points to go up 7-5. However the Tar Heels responded with a 5-0 run of their own and never trailed from that point, leading by as many as six points.

The Terps did make one final run in the set, though. Down 24-20, the Terps fought off set point three times to cut the deficit to one and force a North Carolina timeout. However, Christine Vaughen scored out of the timeout to give the Tar Heels the set.

Maryland never led in the second set after seeing North Carolina take the first two points. The Terps got within one point at 6-5, but the Tar Heels took control from there, going on an 11-2 run to take a commanding 17-7 lead.

The third set started well for Maryland as it scored three of the first four points for a two-point advantage. The Terps led 5-4 before things unraveled. Maryland scored only five points the rest of the way as the Tar Heels scored 21 of the final 26 points of the set.

Maryland hit a season-low .020 in the match while the Tar Heels hit a solid .272.

Senior Mary Beth Brown and sophomore Michelle Kenning had six kills apiece to pace Maryland. Junior Katie Usher had five kills and hit a team-best .214.

North Carolina's Courtney Johnston was the only player to reach double figures in kills, recording 11.

Maryland concludes its road trip Sunday at NC State with a 1 p.m. matchup in Raleigh, N.C.

-TERPS-