The Terrapin volleyball team rolled through the Hilton Garden Inn Greenbelt Invitational to claim their second tournament championship this season.

The Terps swept the first two matches against James Madison and New Hampshire en route to a showdown with Temple for the tournament championship. Maggie Schmelzle, Beth Gillming and Jade Brown paced the team and each earned all-tournament honors.

After sweeping their first two opponents, the Terps needed four games to finish off Temple. The Terps opened up the first game of the championship match with a 10-4 run. Late in the first game, Temple made a 10-5 run, but Mary Beth Brown knocked down a kill to seal the first game for the Terps, 30-26.

The Terps took the second game but were plagued by unforced errors in the third. Ten errors by the Terps kept Temple in the game and allowed them to hang around. With the game tied at 25, Temple went on a 5-1 run to close out the Terps and force a fourth game.

In the final game, the Terps regained the form which allowed them to dominate the game early. Michelle Kenning and Katie Usher provided an early spark for the Terps as they combined for five kills during the early run.

Against James Madison, the Terps used a balanced attack to win the match. Six players finished the match with at least five kills, including Beth Gillming and Maggie Schmelzle who tied for the team lead with eight kills each.

“Friday night’s [game against James Madison] was the best we have played this pre-season was our best,” said head coach Janice Kruger. “I want to hold them to that standard and take steps to get better than that.”

“This was a total team effort win,” said freshman Michelle Kenning. “We have been working so hard this entire week to improve. Just in this match I felt it all came together.”

Following the win against James Madison, the Terps used the same balanced blueprint to sweep New Hampshire.

“We are just really got in a groove, the outsides and middles were really working together,” said Mary Beth Brown. The Terps again had five players with at least five kills, including Jade Brown and Beth Gillming, who had twelve and thirteen respectively.

With the preseason nonconference games and tournaments out of the way, the Terps will turn their attention to the ACC season, which begins this weekend.

Terp Note: Tedi Doucet was injured in the preseason and Rachel Profit filled in during this weekend’s tournament. The extent of the injury and the team’s plans will be revealed later in the week.

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