Sept. 19, 2012

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

The Maryland volleyball team hits the road this weekend for its first Atlantic Coast Conference road trip of the season. The Terps are at Clemson Friday evening and conclude the trip in Atlanta, Ga., against Georgia Tech.

First serve against the Tigers is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. from Jervey Gym. On Sunday, the Terps and Yellow Jackets will get going at 2 p.m. from O'Keefe Gymnasium.

The Last Meeting CLEMSON 3 Maryland 1 November 4, 2011 College Park, MD Clemson Outlasts Terps Junior Remy McBain recorded her fourth triple-double of the season and redshirt freshman Carlisle Abele had a career-high 11 kills, but Clemson defeated the Terps 3-1. Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

The Last Meeting GEORGIA TECH 3 Maryland 1 November 6, 2011 College Park, MD Terps Fall in Four Sets The Maryland volleyball team dropped a four-set match Sunday against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 3-1 at Comcast Pavilion Recap | Box Score

The matchup with Clemson will be streamed live on TigerCast and live stats will be available through clemsontigers.com.

On Sunday at Georgia Tech, live video will be available through RamblinWreck All-Access and live stats will be available through Gametracker.

Updates for each match will also be posted on the Maryland Volleyball Twitter feed and on the Maryland Volleyball Facebook page, so "Follow" and "Like" to get updates sent straight to you.

Last Time Out

The Terps did not drop a set in three victories over LIU Brooklyn, NJIT and St. John's at the Blackbird Invitational last weekend.

Maryland opened the tournament against St. John's. Maryland held the Red Storm to a season-best .069 hitting percentage and tied a season-high with 12 blocks.

Against the host Blackbirds, the Terps tallied double-digit blocks for the third consectutive match (10) and hit a season-high .313 to claim the tournament title.

What's Next

Maryland returns to Comcast Pavilion next weekend to take on a pair of Virginia foes, facing Virginia Tech on Friday, Sept. 28 and Virginia on Sunday, Sept. 30. The Terps and Hokies are set for a 7 p.m. first serve. The Terps and Cavaliers will start at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

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Scouting the Terps

Entering play this weekend, the Terps rank in the top half of the ACC in five statistical categories: assists, blocks, digs, kills and service aces. Maryland is tied for fifth with Florida State averaging 12.86 assists per set, is sixth in blocks with 2.35 per set, is fifth in digs with 14.33 per set, is sixth in kills with 13.76 per set, and is fifth in service aces with 1.33 per set.

Sophomores Ashleigh Crutcher and Adreené Elliott rank one and two on the team in kills. Crutcher is averaging 3.22 per set, while Elliott is contributing 2.90 per set.

Elliott continues to be a consistent attacking threat for the Terps. The middle blocker is converting 42.3 percent of her attack attempts, which is fourth best in the conference and ranks 16th nationally.

The Winston-Salem, N.C., native also provides a strong prescence defensively along the net. Elliott has 50 total blocks and is averaging 1.19 per set. Her average is good for fifth in the ACC. Against St. John's on Friday, Elliott had a career-high eight total blocks and tied that record the following night against LIU Brooklyn.

Setting up the Terrapin hitters are senior Remy McBain and freshman Mackenzie Dagostino. McBain ranks 10th in the league averaging 6.26 assists per set. Dagostino is right behind McBain with a 5.36 per set average.

Junior Sarah Harper continues to lead the team in digs. The Charlottesville, Va., native has totaled 160 so far this season and is averaging 3.81 per set, which is eighth-best in the ACC.

Scouting the Tigers

The Tigers are coming off a conference opening three-set loss at Georgia Tech on Friday after dispatching of Georgia State in three sets the night before.

Offensively, the Tigers have had a strong start to the season. Clemson ranks second in the ACC averaging 14.37 kills per set led by Moneshia Simmons (3.92 Avg/S) and Sandra Adeleye (3.45 Avg/S). The seniors rank second and 10th, respectively in the conference.

Offensive efficiency has been a trademark of the Tigers so far. Clemson is No. 26 in the nation and fourth in the ACC in hitting percentage (.271). Three Tigers are hitting at least .311 led by Adeleye (.379).

Hannah Brenner is averaging 9.03 assists per set, which is seventh in the conference. As a team, the Tigers are third in the league averaging 13.26 per set.

Clemson is second in the ACC and No. 10 nationally in service aces. The Tigers average 1.76 per set and Kristin Faust (0.45 Avg/S) and Serenat Yaz (0.39 Avg/S) rank fourth and eighth, respectively, within the league.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets

The Yellow Jackets defeated Clemson in three sets to open the Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic over the weekend. Two days later, Georgia Tech wrapped up the tournament with a three-set victory over Georgia State.

Georgia Tech's offense is one of the most efficient in the country and generates a lot of its points off of service. The Yellow Jackets are converting 29.1 percent of their attack opportunities, which ranks second in the ACC and is No. 16 nationally.

Monique Mead is third in the conference with 3.90 kills per set. Fellow senior Bailey Hunter is fifth in the league with 3.85 kills per set.

Four Yellow Jackets are among the top-10 servers in the ACC. Kaleigh Colston and Mead are tied for second with a 0.46 per set average. Susan Carlson is ranked sixth with a 0.41 per set average and Hunter is ranked ninth with a 0.38 per set average.

As a team, the Ramblin Wreck lead the conference in service aces with a 2.03 per set average, which is the sixth-highest total nationally.

Series History

Clemson leads the all-time series against the Terps, 35-27, and has won 11 in a row. The Terps last win against the Tigers came on Nov. 18, 2005, in College Park in a five-set affair. Maryland's last win at Clemson came that same year on Oct. 8, when the Terps won in four sets.

Georgia Tech holds a slight advantage over the Terps all-time. The Yellow Jackets lead the series 27-26 after winning both meetings in 2011. Maryland's last win over Georgia Tech was in three sets in Atlanta on Oct. 23, 2010.

Head Coach Tim Horsmon

Tim Horsmon is in his fifth season in charge of the Maryland volleyball team. With the Terps' victory over Villanova on Aug. 24, Horsmon won his 50th career game at Maryland.

Honored Terps

The Terps wrapped up their pre-conference tournament schedule last weekend. Sophomore Adreené Elliott came away with the highest honors. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native was voted the MVP of both the Villanova Classic and Blackbird Invitational as well as earning a spot on the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills All-Tournament team.

Last weekend at the Blackbird Invitational, Elliott tallied 31 kills and 23 total blocks including a career-high eight total blocks against St. John's. Saturday evening, Elliott tied the mark with another eight total blocks against LIU Brooklyn.

In three matches at the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Invitational, Elliott finished with 32 kills and a .419 hitting percentage. In the win over George Washington, Elliott had a career-high .619 hitting percentage.

Elliott took home MVP honors at the Villanova Classic to open the season. In three matches, she tallied 26 kills and 13 total blocks. Elliott finished the weekend with a .353 hitting percentage.

Junior Sarah Harper and freshman Kamrin Gold joined Elliott on the Villanova Classic All-Tournament team. Harper finished with 49 digs, while Gold tallied 18 kills including 11 against Robert Morris.

With 54 kills at the Maryland Invitational, sophomore Ashleigh Crutcher earned a spot on the Maryland Invitational All-Tournament team. Crutcher leads the Terps in kills with 140.

Junior Mary Cushman and Gold earned spots on the Blackbird Invitational All-Tournament team. In three matches, Cushman finished with 28 kills, 13 digs and six total blocks. Cushman had a season-high .480 hitting percentage against St. John's. Gold completed the weekend with 25 kills and 16 digs.

Record Watch

With her performance at the Blackbird Invitational, sophomore Adreené Elliott leapt to No. 6 all-time in career hitting percentage. Elliott is currently hitting .300 for her career. Rachel Wagener holds the all-time record with a career .341 hitting percentage.

For the season, Elliott is converting 42.3 percent of her attack opportunities. On her current pace, Elliott would become Maryland's single-season hitting percentage record holder.

On the defensive side of the net, Elliott is five solo blocks shy of moving past Carey Brennan into 10th in program history. Elliott has 45 career solo blocks.

Junior Sarah Harper moved past Maria DiLivio (1,002) into eighth all-time in Maryland history in digs against LIU Brooklyn on Sept. 15. With 1,006 digs, Harper trails Bethany Springer by 198 digs for seventh all-time.

Senior Remy McBain ranks fifth in program history with 2,907 assists. She trails Aimee Huddleston by 663 assists for fourth all-time.

Fresh Faces

The Terps welcomed seven newcomers to the squad this season. The seven-member class was given highest honorable mention honors by PrepVolleyball.com.

So far this season, all seven freshmen have seen action for the Terps, which is the most in the ACC.

Mackenzie Dagostino and Kamrin Gold have been staples in the Terrapin attack. Dagostino is averaging 5.36 assists per set, while Gold is averaging 2.41 kills per set.

Emily Fraik burst onto the scene in the team's season opener against Villanova. Fraik tallied seven kills and six digs in a three-set win over the Wildcats.

2012 Maryland Record...

2012 Individual Match Highs

2012 Team Match Highs

Media Information
Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to umterps.com.

GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2012 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at umterps.com.