Nov. 21, 2004

Charlottesville, Va. - Maryland (16-14, 7-9 ACC) defeated North Carolina (18-15, 9-7 ACC) by scores of 30-24, 30-24, 30-17 to win the 2004 ACC Volleyball Championship Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium on the grounds of the University of Virginia.

The Terrapins came out strong in the first game, recording a 13-8 lead and forcing a North Carolina time out. The Terps continued to build their lead, up by as much as 25-15, before the Tar Heels narrowed the gap to within four points. Stephanie Smith notched her second kill of the game to put Maryland ahead 29-24 and then combined with Maria DiLivio to block a North Carolina attempt and end the game 30-24. Maryland hit .326 as team and held the Tar Heels to a .075 hitting percentage.

Maryland continued its strong offensive play in the second game, hitting .395, with only three hitting errors in 43 swings. The Terrapins totaled four blocks and limited the Tar Heels to a .176 hitting percentage. The Terps took the lead for the first time in the game on a Sarah Treadwell kill that made the score 9-8. They never trailed after that point and recorded a 30-24 win. DiLivio paced the Terps with five kills and three digs in the second game.

The Terps jumped out an 8-1 lead early in the third game and continued their dominant play, never relinquishing the lead. They would go on to record a 30-17 victory and defend their ACC title. Treadwell registered 14 kills and 10 digs to lead the Terrapins. Maryland's Aimee Huddleston set the new ACC tournament assists record with 228, Treadwell tied the tournament kills record with 70 and Beth Gillming set the new tournament digs record with 87.

North Carolina was led by Molly Pyles, who notched a match-high 17 kills, nine digs and two service aces in the match.

2004 All-Tournament Team
Amy Beaver, North Carolina
Jen Dewalt, Maryland
Leslie Finn, Clemson
Aimee Huddleston, Maryland
Stephanie Istvan, Duke
Molly Pyles, North Carolina
Sarah Treadwell, Maryland (MVP)