When the Terrapin volleyball team last defeated either Wake Forest or Duke on the road, senior libero Bethany Springer was still a sophomore in high school.
The Terps haven’t beaten the Demon Deacons or Blue Devils away from College Park since 2004. But the team hopes things will be different this year.
“It will be tough, but I think we can compete with them,” Springer said. “We played Duke in the spring and did very well against them, and against Wake Forest we can definitely win.”
The Terps (11-4, 2-1 ACC) will face Wake Forest (9-4, 2-1) tonight in Winston-Salem, N.C. and Duke (11-2, 3-0) tomorrow night in Durham, N.C. Both matches will provide tough tests for the Terps, but coach Tim Horsmon remains confident in his team’s ability.
“Both teams are playing pretty well,” Horsmon said. “Duke is playing the best volleyball I’ve seen from them since I’ve been here, and I think both will be tough matches. … But if we play our brand of volleyball, play hard and execute, we can play with anybody.”
Defense will be the key to the Terps’ success this weekend. Both the Demon Deacons and Blue Devils are in the top half of the conference in kills, so the Terps will have to find a way to slow down their oppositions’ attacks.
“We’re going to have to defend better,” Horsmon said. “We’re going to have to execute in both matches, and how we stop the first couple of attacks is going to be really important for us.”
“Both teams run a very fast offense, so we’ll have to pick up our defense,” Springer added. “But we have been practicing all week to stop them, so we know what’s coming.”
With a four-game homestand following this weekend’s road trip, the Terps understand the significance of these two matches. Springer stressed the importance of “keeping our record up,” and Horsmon believes every match in the ACC is critical.
“Every match is very important to us,” Horsmon said. “We have a tough stretch in front of us, and it’s our third weekend in a row on the road, which isn’t a great situation. But we want to come out of this in a good place in the conference and put ourselves in good position for the rest of the year.”
vitale@umdbk.com
