EVANSTON, Ill. – Behind impressive outings from junior outside hitter Erika Pritchard and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Katie Myers, the University of Maryland volleyball team defeated Northwestern, three sets to two, in Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night.

Myers finished the match with 16 kills, tied for her second most this season, while hitting at a lights-out .640 clip without recording a single attack error. The Westerville, Ohio native also tied her career-high with 10 total blocks – the third time she has recorded 10 blocks in a match this season and the fifth time she's done so in her career. Her .640 hitting percentage was her second-best mark this season (.769 at Arkansas 9/13/19).

Pritchard recorded double-digit kills for her seventh-consecutive match and for the 18^th overall time this season, also hitting at her best clip (.302) of the Big Ten season. She led all players on the court tonight with 18 kills while also contributing six digs, a service ace and a block.

The Terps hit at their highest percentage of the conference season (.302), finishing the night with 57 total team kills, all while limiting the Wildcats to a .227 hitting percentage. Nicole Alford led the team with 24 assists, Allegra Rivas paced the squad with 19 digs, and Sam Burgio led the Terps from the service line with two aces (and the three crucial serves that led to Wildcat overpasses and coinciding Katie Myers kills).

SET-BY-SET

• SET ONE (NU, 25-22) Erika Pritchard opened the scoring with the first kill of the night and continued to contribute offensively throughout the match more than anyone else on the court. The Terps allowed an early four-point run to find themselves in an early hole and never regained a lead despite several multi-point swings in their direction. Pritchard's five first-set kills and Myers' three first-set blocks set the precedent for the rest of the evening, but Maryland would go on to lose the first set 22-25.
• SET TWO (UMD, 25-22) The Terps jumped to a 10-4 lead looking to bounce back from their first-set loss and never lost their lead, despite allowing the Wildcats to tie it up at the 17 point mark. Maryland fired off back-to-back kills, courtesy of Rebekah Rath and Myers, and would go on to tie the match at one set apiece. Myers' four second-set kills led the team, but Northwestern's Temi Thomas-Ailara – the three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week – tallied six kills in the set.
• SET THREE (UMD, 25-16) Maryland was dominant from the jump and led wire-to-wire in the set, using a four-point run to get to set point, and clinching the third set with a Erika Pritchard kill. Pritchard fueled the Maryland attack in the third set, notching seven kills in the set while also adding three digs and an ace in the 25-16 Maryland set win.
• SET FOUR (NU, 25-20) Northwestern wasn't going down easy, eager to force a fifth set and hungry for their first Big Ten win of the season. The Wildcats largest lead in the set was seven points – coming at 10-3 – but allowed the Terps to rebound with a run of their own before forcing the tiebreaker set 25-20. Northwestern however limited the Terps to just .207 hitting in the set, its lowest hitting % by set of the match.
• SET FIVE (UMD, 15-7) The fifth set was the Katie Myers show, as Myers accounted for the final five points of the match. Maryland started hot, leading 6-2 early and fighting off various Wildcat attacks. Once the Terps led 10-7 however, it was Katie Myers time as she went kill-block-kill-kill-kill to secure the win for the Terps as Maryland would improve to 12-9 and 4-5 in the conference.

UP NEXT

Next, the Terps come back home to face #8 Penn State on Oct. 26 on the XFINITY Center Main Court. Tickets can be purchased here.