Sept. 15, 2012
Box Score
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -
The Maryland volleyball team completed a perfect weekend with three-set defeat of hosts LIU Brooklyn (25-20, 25-22, 25-15) Saturday night in the final match of the Blackbird Invitational at the Wellness Center. The Terps (8-4, 0-1 ACC) did not drop a set in three matches en route to the tournament title.
Sophomore Adreené Elliott finished her weekend with 31 kills and 23 blocks to become the MVP of the Blackbird Invitational All-Tournament team. Junior Mary Cushman and freshman Kamrin Gold joined Elliott on the all-tournament team.
Against the Blackbirds, eight different Terps registered a kill led by Gold with 10. As a team, Maryland finished with a season-high .313 hitting percentage and tallied double-digit blocks (10) for the third consecutive match.
The Terps opened the match on an 8-2 run forcing LIU Brooklyn to take a quick timeout. Following the break, the Blackbirds scored five of the next six points to cut the lead to two points at 9-7.
LIU Brooklyn pulled within one point at 10-9, but a kill from Cushman and a Remy McBain service ace put the Terps back up by three points. Maryland continued its strong play and increased its lead to six points at 18-12 with an Elliott kill forcing the Blackbirds to take another timeout.
The timeout did not slow the Terps' momentum. Junior Sarah Harper tallied one of her three service aces to give Maryland a 22-15 lead. The Terrapins went on to win the set by five points.
The second set was close throughout with the two squads within three points of each other at all times until late in the set. A kill from the Blackbirds' Annika Foit cut the Maryland lead to two points at 19-17. But Maryland turned up its defensive pressure and forced the Blackbirds into errors on three of the next four points and after Cushman added another service ace, Maryland led 23-17.
After four attempts to close out the set, McBain set up an Ashleigh Crutcher for a kill. The Terps took the set 25-22.
Maryland controlled the final set from the beginning. The Terps scored 10 of the first 15 points to seize momentum after the intermission.
With the Terps leading 11-8, Elliott and Gold notched back-to-back kills to force a LIU Brooklyn timeout. The Terps scored three of the next four points after the timeout to increase their lead to seven points.
Foit added another kill to break the run, but Maryland scored the next four points to bring the Terps close to the three-set victory. The Blackbirds did not get closer than eight points the rest of the way as Maryland went on to win the set by 10 points.
The Terrapins begin the bulk of their ACC schedule next weekend when they travel to Clemson on Friday, Sept. 21 and Georgia Tech on Sunday, Sept. 23.
