#2 Minnesota
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Maryland
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Freshman setter Taylor Smith posted five kills on a .444 clip and 19 assists as the Maryland volleyball team (8-5, 0-1 B1G) fell to No. 2 Minnesota (9-1, 1-0) in the Big Ten opener on Friday evening. The Gophers defeated the Terps by set scores of 25-13, 25-14, 25-12.
Sophomore opposite hitter Angel Gaskin led the Terps with six kills. Freshman outside hitter Gia Milana led the match with 13 digs while sophomore libero Kelsey Wicinski notched 11. Senior middle blocker Ashlyn MacGregor tallied three blocks, including one solo.
The Terps held Minnesota to just 3.0 total blocks in the match. The Gophers entered the match as the top blocking corps in the Big Ten with 3.0 blocks per set. Maryland, which entered the match as the No. 3 blocking unit in the conference, tallied 4.0 blocks in the match.
The Gophers began the match on a 7-1 run, forcing a Maryland timeout. Milana and junior middle blocker Hailey Murray posted kills as the Terps pulled within four, 9-5. Gaskin hit a kill at 13-9, but the Gophers were able to pull away, 19-11. Sophomore outside hitter Liz Twilley and Milana notched late kills, but two Maryland attack errors gave Minnesota a 25-13 set win.
Gaskin and MacGregor combined for a block to tie the second set at 1-1. The Gophers took the lead, but a kill from Smith put the Terps within one, 6-5. Minnesota pulled ahead again, forcing a Maryland timeout at 13-8. Smith tallied two more kills and the Terps notched two more blocks in the set, but the Gophers were able to take advantage of Maryland errors to win the set, 25-14.
Sophomore setter Abigail Bentz served an ace to give Maryland a 4-3 lead early in set three, but the Gophers were able to take control again, taking an 11-5 advantage. A Twilley kill halted a 9-0 Minnesota run, but the Gophers were able to follow up with a 6-0 run. Led by strong serving from freshman defensive specialist Nell Drummey, the Terps showed fight at the end, including a solo block from MacGregor and a 4-0 Maryland run. Minnesota tallied two straight points to take the win, 25-12.
Maryland is back in action on Saturday evening at No. 3 Wisconsin (9-1) at 8 p.m.
-Maryland-
