COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sophomore outside hitter Erika Pritchard notched a career-best 24 kills and sophomore setter Nicole Alford tallied a career-high 51 assists as the Maryland volleyball team (12-7, 3-4 B1G) was edged by Michigan State in a five set battle on Friday night.
 
Maryland came back from two sets down to take the third and fourth sets 25-22 and 25-23, winning the battle of the last five points each time to force a fifth set. In the decisive set, Maryland dug an 8-2 hole that was too much to dig out of and dropped it 15-11.
 
"It was a great crowd," said head coach Adam Hughes. "We didn't really start on time and I'll take blame for that but we continued to battle as we have all season. Proud of our group for that."
 
Pritchard led the way offensively, with 24 kills on a .263 clip. Alford was on point all night assisting on 51 of Maryland's 62 kills in the match. Senior outside hitter Liz Twilley tallied 13 kills at a .275 clip while redshirt freshman middle blocker Katie Myers had 11 kills, three blocks and a service ace. Freshman libero Allegra Rivas was in front of the match with 17 digs.
 
The Terps hit just .111 in the first set and totaled eight attack errors as they dropped it 25-16. In the second set, Maryland improved offensively, hitting .250, but the Spartans hit .345 to take it 25-20 as Michigan State used a 15-4 run to end the set.
 
The third set was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than three. After the Spartans came back from down 20-15 to take a 21-20 lead, Maryland won five of the next six points. The key was the point that came with Maryland down 22-21, a long rally ended with a freshman outside hitter Emma Schriner block to tie it up. From that, a Pritchard kill, Rivas ace and Michigan State attack error gave the Terps the set.
 
Led by Pritchard's seven kills on a .545 clip, Maryland hit .405 as a team in the fourth set to take it 25-23. Down 23-21, Alford and Rivas set up Pritchard as she notched four straight kills to give Maryland the set. The set clinching kill tied Pritchard's career-high. The lead at 24-23 was Maryland's first of the set.
 
Pritchard and Alford got their career-highs in the fifth set but Maryland fell 15-11. As they have all night, the Terps battled back, coming from 8-2 down to get within two at 13-11. However, the Spartans won the last two points to finish the match.
 
Maryland will be back in action on Sunday as the Terps welcome in their second ranked opponent of the year, #13 Michigan, to the XFINITY Center Pavilion at 1:00 p.m.