MATCH NOTES
- Maryland def. #15 USC 3-o (25-22, 25-23, 25-21)
- Maryland moves to 10-0; USC falls to 7-3
- Maryland Challenge, College Park, Maryland
- Attendance: 1,541
- Box Score
- VolleyMob Top 25 (Week 4)
The Maryland Terrapins continued an undefeated 10-0 run through their non-conference schedule with the team’s biggest victory to date, upending #15 USC in straight sets before a raucous home crowd of 1,541.
“It was a great win for our program. It’s been a lot of years of hard work to put us in a position to have success,” Maryland head coach Steve Aird said.
The Terps was led offensively by freshman outside Erika Pritchard, who notched 12 kills, and sophomore outside Gia Milana, who recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs. Junior Kelsey Wicinski anchored Maryland’s back-row defense with 16 digs, including the 1,000th of her career.
The Women of Troy were led by senior opposite Brittany Abercrombie, who notched 10 kills, hitting at a .474 clip. Sophomore outside Khalia Lanier added 10 kills, but was held to .026 hitting.
Before tonight’s loss, USC had not been swept since their straight-set loss to eventual national champion Stanford on October 23, 2016.
In the first set, Maryland built two separate five-point advantages and managed to hold off a late-charging USC on a double-block by junior opposite Angel Gaskin and freshman middle Katie Myers. The Women of Troy managed their own five-point advantage in the second, but the Terps went on a 5-2 at the end of the set to win 25-23.
With a slim 22-21 lead in the third, the Terps scored three straight on a kill by Pritchard then two double-blocks by Pritchard and Myers.
The Terps play Oklahoma tomorrow morning before finishing the Maryland Challenge with a match against #9 Washington. USC plays Oklahoma on Friday afternoon in their final match before starting Pac 12 play.
VIDEO
Check out the match-winning block from Myers and Pritchard! #TerpsRising pic.twitter.com/6Kqs6e9KiZ
— Maryland Volleyball (@TerpsVolleyball) September 15, 2017
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Maryland Athletics
TERPS UPSET #18 USC IN STRAIGHT SETS
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Outside hitters Gia Milana and Erika Pritchard each had 12 kills as the Maryland volleyball team (10-0) defeated No. 18 Southern California (7-3) in straight sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-21) Thursday evening in the Maryland Challenge.
“It was a great win for our program. It’s been a lot of years of hard work to put us in a position to have success,” head coach Steve Aird said. “We know we have bigger goals that we want to achieve, so we’ll get back to work on the court tomorrow against two good opponents.”
The win over USC was Aird’s third career victory over a ranked team as a head coach and first over a nonconference opponent. It was also the first time Maryland has won a set, as well as a match, over the Trojans in program history.
Maryland’s 10-0 record is the program’s best start to a season since 2005, when the Terps began the year 14-0.
Milana added 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the season while junior libero Kelsey Wicinski tied for the match lead with 16 digs. Senior middle blocker Hailey Murray, redshirt freshman middle Katie Myers and junior opposite Angel Gaskin each posted four blocks.
Wicinski tallied 10 digs and Pritchard notched seven kills in the first set. The Terps took a quick 3-0 lead but USC tied the set, 7-7. Pritchard knocked down three straight kills to help force a Trojans timeout with Maryland ahead 15-11. USC came within one point, 20-19, but kills from Samantha Drechsel and Hailey Murray pushed the Terps to 22-19. Myers had a solo block to get Maryland to set point, and Pritchard notched the set-winning kill, 25-22.
The Trojans took advantage of Maryland errors to take a 10-5 lead in set two. Milana posted three kills to help the Terps come back and tie the set, 18-18. The teams traded points late in the game, and USC took a 23-22 lead. Maryland was able to put together three straight points, including a Gaskin-Myers block to win the set, 25-23.
The Terps controlled the third set from the opening serve as a serving run from Abigail Bentz helped Maryland to a 9-4 lead. The Trojans were able to tie the set twice, at 15-15 and at 16-16, but Maryland’s middles gave the Terrapins a 19-17 lead. Pritchard had a kill and combined for a block with Myers to get to match point, 24-21. The duo worked together again to pick up the match-winning block, 25-21.
With her first dig of the match, Wicinski reached 1,000 career digs. She is the 11th Terp in program history to reach the mark.
The Terps return to the court for the second day of the Maryland Challenge Friday. The Terrapins will face Oklahoma at 11 a.m. before closing the tournament against No. 7 Washington at 7 p.m. The Huskies defeated the Sooners in three sets on Thursday.
Courtesy: USC Athletics
No. 18 USC Swept by Upstart Terrapins
The Women of Troy had their three-match winning streak snapped by Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The 18th-ranked USC women’s volleyball team (7-3) was swept in three sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-21) by tournament host Maryland (10-0) in the Maryland Challenge at the Xfinity Center on Thursday, Sept. 14. The Women of Troy had their three-match winning streak snapped and fell to a team from the state of Maryland for the first time.
Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie led the Trojans with 10 kills (1e, 19att) and a .474 hitting percentage. Abercrombie also had four digs and two blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier had 10 kills (9e, 38att, .026) with eight digs and the Trojans’ only service ace. Senior opposite hitter Niki Withers added eight kills (7e, 22att, .045) and junior outside hitter Alyse Ford tallied six kills (2e, 19att, .211) with five digs.
The Trojans hit .155 in the match and were swept for the first time since a 3-0 result against Stanford on Oct. 23, 2016. Senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley had 17 assists and sophomore setter Cindy Marina put up 15 assists. Junior libero Victoria Garrick led the team with 16 digs and added three assists.
For the Terrapins, Erika Pritchard and Gia Milana each had 12 kills. Milana also had 14 digs for a double-double. Angel Gaskin and Samantha Drechsel each added six kills apiece. Kelsey Wicinski had 16 digs for the Terps and added four assists.
Despite valiant late-first-set heroics, the Women of Troy couldn’t overcome a couple of five-point deficits, and fell to the Terrapins, 25-22. The Trojans had a hard time with the Maryland defense and hit just .087 (13k, 9e, 46att) in the opening frame. On the other side of a five-point gap in the second set, USC allowed the Terrapins to erase the entire advantage and claim a 25-23 win in the second set with a 5-2 run over the final seven rallies. The Trojans posted a strong .344 hitting percentage (15k, 4e, 32att) in the second set, and held UMD to a .219 outing (13k, 6e, 32att) but couldn’t overcome the Terps’ late charge.
Maryland led by five points early in the third set, 9-4, but the Trojans stayed the course and equalized at 15-all on back-to-back kills by Abercrombie. The Terrapins were unfazed and later rolled through a 5-1 run to lead, 21-17. The Trojans had one last gasp to pull within a point at 22-21, but Maryland scored the final three points to seal the sweep, 25-21.
The Women of Troy turn around to face Oklahoma (3-7) in their final non-conference match at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md., on Friday (Sept. 15).
For more information on the USC women’s volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.
MATCH NOTES
USC fell to 4-1 in all-time meetings with Maryland. Previously, the Women of Troy had never dropped a set to the Terrapins.
The match was USC’s first-ever in the state of Maryland (0-1) and the loss marked the first time the program has lost to a team from the state of Maryland (5-1 all-time).
The 3-0 loss was the Trojans’ first sweep since Oct. 23, 2016 (vs. Stanford) but was USC’s first time swept away from home since Oct. 30, 2015 (at Washington). It is USC’s first 3-0 loss in 2017.
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