After winning the first two games by the slimmest of margins, the Maryland volleyball team made a 14-4 run to finish off the Cavaliers in Sunday's final game, 30-22.
Virginia (6-14, 0-5 ACC) lost the first two sets, 30-28 and 31-29, but looked to bounce back in the third game. They opened with a 5-1 edge and led 18-16 before the Terrapins (13-7, 2-3) took over the third game.
"I told [the team] that I am sick of losing by two points," Virginia Coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said of her mid-match message. "We should be 50-50 in the games we are winning or losing by two points, not 90 percent losing. We needed to come out and take care of it and we started out strong."
The Cavaliers' inability to put the ball away, as evidenced by their negative hitting percentage in the third game, ultimately did them in.
"We need to have outside hitters that can put the ball down," Aldrich Shelton said. "We're really struggling in our outside positions left and right to find people who can get kills at critical times."
The first game was close throughout, with neither team taking more than a 3-point lead. Tied at 24, the teams traded the next eight points. But Maryland senior outside hitter Carey Brennan had two big kills on the Terps' 28th and 29th points to help put away the Cavaliers. The first game ended on a Cavalier hitting error.
In the second game, Virginia went up 19-16, but the Terrapins responded with a 9-2 run. After a Virginia timeout, the Cavaliers bounced off four straight points. Senior outside hitter Paige Davis laid down a kill from sophomore setter Lily Phillips and then served an ace. An errant Maryland kill followed by a kill by senior middle Simona Kuipers tied the score at 25.
Maryland edged ahead, 29-27, late but the Cavaliers tied the score at 29 on junior middle Shannon Boyle's kill. Ultimately, Maryland sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Dewalt bagged two straight kills to end the game and put the Cavaliers down 2-0.
"We need to put the ball down," sophomore defensive specialist Ruth Selby said. "It could go either way. If we had won both those first games, we could have beaten them in three. It's so frustrating because we'll be right there at 28-26 or 28-28 and we just don't get the kill, or we make some silly mistake and then they bring it right back down our throats."
The Cavaliers were aided by the return of Phillips, who played in her first full match after spraining her ankle more than a month ago. Phillips saw limited action this weekend, but nearly notched a double double with 39 assists and nine digs.
Phillips "will not be 100 percent the rest of the season," Aldrich Shelton said. "It was nice to have her back and we were able to get our middles more involved, but it's sort of a readjustment period for our hitters. It's tough because she can't practice 100 percent, so there's not a whole lot of time to readjust and get used to different sets. They're very different setters so tonight was sort of a trial by fire."
Davis recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs for Virginia.
But the Cavaliers did not have an answer for Maryland junior outside hitter Lynnsy Jones, who finished with a match-high 20 kills.
Virginia will travel to the Sunshine State this weekend to face Florida State Friday and Florida A & M Saturday.
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