COLLEGE PARK, Md. – For the second straight outing, outside hitter Adreené Elliott led the match in kills, but the Maryland volleyball team (10-6, 0-2 B1G) fell to Northwestern (10-3, 2-0) in straight sets (26-28, 23-25, 9-25) Saturday.

“I thought we played decent for the first two sets,” head coach Steve Aird said. “The final set got away from us a little bit, but I thought Northwestern had a great game plan and played a good match.”

Elliott posted 12 kills on .333 hitting. The senior also added three digs and two blocks, including one solo.

Maryland and Northwestern battled in the first set as there were 16 ties and five lead changes. Elliott notched three early kills as the Terps took a 4-2 lead. After trading points, the Wildcats pulled ahead, 14-12. A service error helped Maryland tie the set, 19-19. Abigail Bentz served an ace to take a 21-20 lead. After six ties, two errors from the Terps gave the Wildcats a 28-26 set one win.

Maryland again started the second set ahead, led by kills from Ashlyn MacGregor and Liz Twilley. In another close set which featured 10 ties, Northwestern worked to a 15-12 lead. MacGregor had two straight Terps kills and Hailey Murray added one. Elliott pulled Maryland within one point on a kill before a block gave Northwestern a 25-23 set win.

The Wildcats controlled the third set to win the match. After the Terps took a 2-1 lead, Northwestern capitalized on Maryland errors to jump ahead, 11-6. Murray, Angel Gaskin and MacGregor all notched kills but the Wildcats attack pushed ahead, 20-9. Northwestern finished the set on a 7-0 run to win, 25-9.

Whitney Craigo led the Terps with 22 assists while Amy Dion and Kelsey Wicinski each notched 11 digs. Murray led the team with three blocks.

The Terps are on the road next weekend, taking on Indiana Friday at 7 p.m. before facing No. 20 Purdue Saturday at 7 p.m.

-Maryland-