Oct. 28, 2010
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The University of Maryland volleyball team hosts a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference rivals from Tobacco Road this weekend when NC State and North Carolina travel to the Comcast Pavilion Friday night and Sunday afternoon, respectively.
The Terps (15-8, 6-5 ACC) will host the Wolfpack (12-11, 2-9 ACC) at 7 p.m. Friday before welcoming the Tarheels (18-6, 9-2 ACC) at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Maryland returns to College Park after coming off of a two-game road series in which they lost to Clemson but then defeated Georgia Tech in Atlanta for the first time since October 17, 1997.
The Terps are led by dual-threat junior Lisa Scott who leads the team in attack percentage (.331) while also ranking second in total blocks (81). Scott recently passed Shannon Saltzman and Aimee Huddleston for ninth place in both total blocks and block asssits. Freshman Mary Cushman is Maryland's best threat at the net and leads Maryland with 257 kills. Sophomore Remy McBain remains the Terps' top-assister; the Leonia, N.J. native has 838 assists on the season and ranks seventh in the ACC with 9.74 assists per set.
After finishing out-of-conference play at 9-2, the NC State Wolfpack have won only two conference matches and are currently on a six-game losing streak. The Wolfpack, however, do have several strong players in their line-up. Becah Fogle ranks seventh in the ACC with 197 kills and 3.23 per set. Megan Cyr currently holds sixth-place in the conference with 10.21 assists per set while Margaret Salata ranks third in the ACC with 1.17 blocks per set and 89 overall.
Prior to defeating the Wolfpack on the road earlier this season 3-1, Maryland won both matches in 2009. The Terps currently own a 40-18 all-time lead over NC State.
The North Carolina Tarheels, however, have had few problems within the conference. At 9-2 in the ACC, the Tarheels trail only Duke within the conference. North Carolina is led by Christine Vaughen, who ranks sixth in the conference with a .352 attack percentage. Kaylie Gibson currently leads all ACC players with 441 total digs and a 5.25 per set average. As a team, the Tarheels lead the ACC in hitting percentage defense, allowing a stifling .158 average over 84 total sets.
The Terps lost at North Carolina in four sets earlier this season, but in 2009 the teams split, with each winning its home match. Maryland trails North Carolina 23-35 in the all-time series.
With a win this weekend, Maryland would top its conference win total from last season, when the Terps finished at 6-14 in the ACC. The Terrapins' 15-8 (6-5 ACC) record is the program's best under third-year head coach Tim Horsmon.
Following its weekend series at home, Maryland will head south to take on Virginia and Virginia Tech on Nov. 5 and 6, respectively.
-ES-
