COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Led by 18 kills and four service aces from senior outside hitter Adreené Elliott, the Maryland volleyball team upset No. 12 Ohio State in straight sets Friday evening in the XFINITY Center Pavilion. The Terrapins (13-15, 3-11 B1G) defeated the Buckeyes (19-6, 8-5) by set scores of 25-23, 28-26, 27-25.
The Terps notched their first win over a ranked opponent since a 3-2 win over No. 22 Florida State on Oct. 17, 2010. The teams battled for the entirety of the match as the evening featured 30 ties and 11 lead changes.
“This was a great win for our program tonight,” head coach Steve Aird said. “Ohio State's staff does a great job and they're a tough team, and I respect what they do. We talk about all the time about pounding the rock and one day it'll split, and that happened today. I was proud of how the team and the young kids competed tonight.”
The freshman class helped Maryland pull off the upset as outside hitter Liz Twilley notched 10 kills and opposite hitter Angel Gaskin led the team with five blocks. Libero Kelsey Wicinski tied for the match lead with 14 digs while setter Abigail Bentz dug nine balls.
“It was a really great feeling that we were able to pull this off,” Gaskin said. “It was a definitely a confidence booster. We've had two really hard, good weeks of practice, and it's awesome to see our hard work paying off.”
Gaskin and Hailey Murray combined for a block and Ashlyn MacGregor served as ace as the Terps started the match strong. After Ohio State took a 9-6 lead, Maryland posted six straight points to lead 12-9. After a MacGregor kill, Elliott served two straight aces to force a Buckeye timeout at 18-13. Ohio State was able to come back and tie the set, 21-21, before a kill from Twilley and a Murray-Whitney Craigo block put the Terps ahead, 23-21. Elliott posted two kills as Maryland won the set, 25-23.
Murray, Gaskin and Twilley made a block to put the Terrapins ahead early in set two, 4-2. After Ohio State briefly took the lead, Maryland used a 6-1 run to take a 16-13 lead. The Buckeyes rallied to tie the set, 17-17, and used a 4-0 run to take a 22-20 set lead. Twilley tied the set twice with kills, and a kill from Craigo put Maryland ahead, 26-25. After another tie, an Ohio State service error put the Terps at set point again, and Elliott was able to seal the set win again with a kill, 28-26.
The teams remained closely matched out of intermission before Ohio State pulled ahead, 13-9. Twilley posted back-to-back kills to bring the Terps within two, and kills from Elliott and MacGregor tied the set, 15-15. The teams traded the points and the lead before Ohio State reached set point, 24-22. Twilley tied the set with a kill, and Elliott tied it again with a kill at 25-25. After Gaskin put the Terps ahead with a kill, Gaskin and MacGregor went up for the match-winning block and finished the match with a 27-25 win.
Next up for the Terps is No. 16 Purdue at 6 p.m. next Wednesday in the XFINITY Pavilion. The match will be live streamed on BTN Plus.
-Maryland-
