Twelve University of Maryland alums and current student-athletes competed in USA Field Hockey's annual High Performance National Championship in Norfolk, Va. this week.  Jill Witmer, Alyssa Parker and Natalie Hunter played on the title-winning Mid-Atlantic/South team. The Mid-Atlantic/South team took on the Pennsylvania team in the championship. Terrapin alum Katie O'Donnell and Ali McEvoy played on the Pennsylvania team.

Pennsylvania scored minutes after the match began, but the Mid-Atlantic/South team tied it up minutes later. Pennsylvania took the lead again in the 19^th minute with a goal by O'Donnell, who led the tournament in scoring.

Awards were given to athletes for outstanding individual tournament performances. Kasold and O'Donnell each scored five goals and were presented with the "Leading Goal Scorer" award.

U.S. head coach Craig Parnham will announce the athletes selected to the Women's National Squad and to the Women's Under-21 Team for the Junior World Cup Thursday.

A new era of Maryland baseball is upon us. The Terps joined forces with 522 Productions to produce a short film to showcase the new attitude.

As the regular season comes to a close this Saturday, this week's Maryland Men's Lacrosse Blog is taking care of some housekeeping with some odds and ends, including Senior Day, the upcoming NCAA Tournament, Terps in professional lacrosse, information on Maryland Men's Lacrosse Summer Camps, Tournaments and Clinics, and more. Let's take a look ...

Last week, we played the in the ACC Championships in Cary, NC.  We left a day before our first round. It was nice to go to North Carolina last week, because it was cold and rainy in College Park and much warmer in Cary.  After we arrived at the Tennis Center in Cary, we practiced for a couple of hours and then went to the hotel.

As usual, we had team dinner at a restaurant the evening before the match. The restaurant was situated in a big shopping mall, so after the dinner, we had time to hang out in the mall. It was team shopping, and it was fun! Imagine: you and your friends are getting free samples of tea. The shop assistant is happy that you came, and she begins telling you a long story about benefits of green and black tea. However, when your friends are done with their tea, they just disappear... and you are left one-on -one with the disappointed shop assistant. You never get this feeling if you are shopping alone...

Unfortunately, the next day was not lucky for our team. We lost to Georgia Tech 0-4. In doubles, we definitely did better than in our previous match against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, but our singles results were not good enough to raise our score from our previous defeat to the Yellow Jackets.

However, some good things also happened last week. For the first time, our senior Vroni appeared in the ITA singles rankings. Vroni also became the Terp of the Week, and was named to the All-ACC team! It is cool when all these things take place in one week, especially if it is the last week of your college tennis career.

We have not had tennis practice since our last match. Now it is the time to have a few days off and to study intensely, because it's the end of the semester and final exams are coming. It is also a good time for team activities. For example... last Friday, we were told to come at the Varsity Team House at 1 p.m. Since our conditioning usually takes place at VTH, everybody was ready for a hard practice. But, as we learned later, our "practice" on that day was to write letters to thank the Terrapin Club donors! 

I think last Sunday was one of the first times that freshmen organized a team activity without the participation of our coaches, Welma or Vroni. Tali, Olya, Sarah and me went to yoga class. That was the first yoga class in my life. I think that was actually quite hard and very useful for tennis players who often have problems with their backs because of weaker muscles of the non-dominant side.

Hopefully, during the next couple weeks, our team will enjoy studies and get good grades on our finals!

Go Terps!

Olga 

We beat Duke! Yes! I just wanted to start writing my blog after this great news.

After our unfortunate loss against NC State, we had a brief meeting after the match, during which Coach Panova told us that next week we were playing against some of the best teams in the country, so the last thing we should be is scared to play. We have to get out there and enjoy ourselves during our last matches this season, and just fight and do our best. 

The week passed by pretty fast and I thought I just played against NC State yesterday, but nope, it was already Friday and time to fight against Duke! I could feel the excitement and tension in the air on Friday morning when we were having lunch in the team room. Although everybody was pretty quiet, I could see in my teammate's eyes that they were hungry to beat the No. 11 team in the country!

The doubles matches were played at No. 1 and No. 2, so me and Gaby were cheering on the side. How hard it is to watch from the side, and not be able to play! Sometimes you just want to run on the court take the racquet and help your teammates to finish that point/game. It is so much more stressful to watch them play. Maros, Dasha, Welma, I understand you now completely! (Well, Welma is going to play with us already next season, yay!!) When Sarah and Vroni won their doubles, which got us a doubles point, my sixth sense was telling me that it's going to be a great day for the Terps.  

Even during my match this feeling of overexcitement would not let me make smart, wise decisions on the court. After I unfortunately finished my not so a long match, I started to put all of my energy that wouldn't let me play calmly into cheering for my teammates. After Gaby won her match (great job, it was awesome!) I was just overwhelmed with feelings! That was the time when Vroni got to her third set. It was really tight. Everybody was jumping and screaming after every point. I honestly thought that I would cramp from the tension in my body! Those last few points that Vroni played were probably one of the most stressful (in a good way though) minutes of my life!  Even when she was down 5-3, we were even trying to follow some rituals before every point she played. And our senior did it! Even being down 5-3, she beat that girl in the end! To say that I was happy is like saying nothing. The only one who didn't really show any emotions was Vroni, but considering that Vroni is one of the calmest people I ever seen in my life it wasn't that surprising. How I understood that she was really happy? When she suggested to celebrate our win by going into pouring rain and swimming in the pool that is on the mall! And guess what, we did it! That's how we celebrated our great win over No. 11 team in the country. Also one of the greatest things is that our coach Dasha promised to dye her hair red if we would beat Duke. And surprisingly, she really did! Well, it wasn't really red, it was pink, but that's not the point. The point is, my great respect to Dasha for keeping her word! 

After the day off on Saturday we were about to face the No. 1 team in the country, and this day was really special also because it was last match for Vroni, senior day! So everybody got up early and went to the team room where we were supposed to meet for breakfast. Welma and Sarah did a great job on organizing things. You should guys do a major connected with creativity for sure! We made a surprise for our dear Senior citizen by decorating the team room and presenting her a photo frame with the picture signed by all of us. Before the match, we put a "war paint" of our faces with red and black colors. Some of us even painted our hair red with the washable paint so our coach didn't feel as bad. It was a really fun preparation, I think we should incorporate it more in our pre-match routine. 

To be honest, playing against UNC showed me how much we are capable of. Not taking into account scores, we weren't much worse than our opponents. There are small, but essential things that we need to change, but we are working on it! We are a young team and still have a some things to learn, but I am sure that we are on our way to success. Next season is going to get much better. And I want to say thanks to our senior Vroni again for being a great leader of our team. I can imagine how hard it is when there five freshman and you are the only one experienced. But you taught us things, I remember you saying that the most important part is that we have to be like a family. We're getting there, and you played a large role in it. Great person, great roommate, and a great teammate! I'm sure you will do fantastic in your life!

We are leaving to ACC championship this week, so good luck to us!

Go Terps

Olga

Hey Terp Fans!

I hope all is well with everyone and you guys are enjoying your last few weeks of school!

A quick turnaround for the Terps means a quick, but fact-filled, edition of the Maryland Men's Lacrosse Blog. First up will be a look at ACC tournament history in Chapel Hill, including the high-scoring affair the last time UNC hosted the event. The blog will then give a historical perspective on 20-save games. Let's get to it.

On Friday, we drove down to Wake Forest. We slept for most of the way, lulled to sleep by Coach Panova's wonderful road trip karaoke/sing along.

Despite getting caught in traffic, we arrived in time to practice for an hour and eat dinner.

This time Olga and I were roomies, and as all good roommates do, we took part in deep, thought-provoking conversations. The question of the day was this: if a tree falls and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

The team insists that no, it doesn't...

But *I* still believe in you, tree-noise. I believe in you like I believe in unicorns and Disney magic...

Agree to disagree.

Over dinner, the twins, Olya and I discussed countries, different languages and our dream destinations (some of which include Iceland, Thailand, France and New Zealand). In fact, we're in the process of planning a great team trip to Siberia. (Better pack your parkas, kids! It's gonna be cold!!!)

The next day, we played against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. We won the doubles point, which marked my and Olya's first win as a doubles team, but we eventually lost in a very close singles match. Afterwards, we drove down to Raleigh, where the team spent the rest of the afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful weather, while I went and met up with my Aunt and Uncle.

We went to dinner (Italian again... you gotta love Italian), where we ate and attempted to decipher the strange and mysterious hieroglyphics written on the walls. After seeing all of the unique and inspiring 'artwork', we just had to get crayons. Unfortunately, there was a strict 'no drawing on the walls' rule... but that's ok, the tables were covered in paper. Of course, Olya and I spent dinner filling it with doodles and SpongeBob drawings.

Meanwhile, Welma and Waiter Dan shared a very... *special* moment. (By the way, Welma, Waiter Dan says 'Hi'...)

On Sunday, we played the NC Wolfpack. My family came and cheered us on, and even though we lost again, we fought hard and worked together as a team.

Unfortunately, teamwork and positivity just don't numb the pain... so we stopped for comfort food on the way home, and Welma used this opportunity to find many new and creative ways to scare Dasha.

After a long and tiring weekend, we arrived back at campus, where we will proceed to kick our butts into high gear for this week's upcoming matches.

Go Terps!

Hey Terp Fans!

I hope you are all enjoying this April weather as much as we are!