UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Freshman libero Kelsey Wicinski notched a match-high 13 digs as the Maryland volleyball team fell to No. 4 Penn State in three sets Saturday. The Terps (13-19, 3-15 B1G) fell to the Nittany Lions (25-4, 14-4) by set scores of 20-25, 11-25, 13-25.
“Credit to Penn State, I thought they played hard tonight,” head coach Steve Aird said. “I obviously have a lot of respect for the program and the crowd was electric. I thought we played well at times tonight, but I need to do a better job preparing my team for the event.”
Senior outside hitter Adreené Elliott led the match with 12 kills. Junior setter Whitney Craigo dished out 22 assists in the contest while junior middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor made two blocks.
Penn State was the seventh consecutive ranked opponent for the Terps, including the second straight top-5 foe. Maryland has faced 14 ranked opponents this season.
The Terps and Nittany Lions battled back and forth in the opening set, which featured 12 ties and five lead changes. Kills from Hailey Murray and Angel Gaskin put Maryland ahead, 3-1, and a kill from Elliott gave the Terps another lead at 7-6. After Liz Twilley and MacGregor combined for a block, Penn State used a 5-0 run to take an 18-15 lead. An ace from MacGregor helped the Terps pull within two, but Penn State utilized a 4-0 run to take the set, 25-20.
The Nittany Lions handled the Terps more easily in the second set. Penn State took a quick 6-1 lead before pushing ahead, 10-3. Elliott notched a trio of kills in the middle of the set but a PSU service ace gave the home team a 21-8 advantage. With the Nittany Lions at set point, Elliott's kill extended the game, but Penn State was able to close it, 25-11.
Maryland came out of the intermission firing, taking a 3-1 lead with a pair of blocks. The teams tied seven times early in the set before the Nittany Lions used a 7-0 run to take a 17-9 lead. Twilley and Elliott posted late kills as the Terps tried to kick-start their offense, but Penn State took the set, 25-13, and the match.
Elliott is at 96 career solo blocks, one away from the Maryland program record. The redshirt senior currently sits in the Terps' career record books in six categories, including kills, total attacks, hitting percentage, solo blocks, block assists and total blocks. Fellow senior Dion is at ninth all-time in career digs.
The Terps finish the regular season with two matches next week. Maryland hosts Iowa Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the team's last home match of the season in the XFINITY Center Pavilion. Seniors Dani Bozzini, Amy Dion, Adreené Elliott, Emily Fraik and Kelsey Hrebenach will be honored before opening serve. The Terps finish the season Saturday, Nov. 28, at Northwestern at 3 p.m.
– Maryland –
