Nov. 20, 2004

Charlottesville, Va. - Maryland (15-14, 7-9 ACC) came back to defeat Duke (20-10, 10-6 ACC) by scores of 28-30, 27-30, 30-25, 30-25, 15-11 in the semifinals of the 2004 ACC Volleyball Championship Saturday evening at Memorial Gymnasium on the grounds of the University of Virginia.

Duke held Maryland to a .077 hitting percentage en route to winning the first game of the match by a score of 30-28. Down 21-25, Duke capitalized on four consecutive Maryland hitting errors to tie the game at 25-25. The two teams exchanged points until the score was tied for a final time at 27-27. A Maryland hitting error put the Blue Devils up one and a Tiffany Perry kill gave them a 29-27 lead. Duke's Tassy Rufai committed a hitting error to bring the Terps within one, but then put down a ball from Ali Hausfeld during the next play to give the Blue Devils the two point victory.

In a tightly contested second game, that included a tied score on twenty occasions and 12 lead changes, the Blue Devils recorded a 30-27 victory. Duke was led by Carrie DeMange, who tallied ten kills and hit .643.

Jennifer Dewalt, Mario DiLivio and Sarah Treadwell combined for 15 kills in the third game, leading Maryland to a 30-25 victory. Ahead 27-25 in the final moments of the game, Stephanie Smith notched two straight kills to put the Terrapins in the lead 29-25, before Jade Brown ended the game with an unassisted kill.

The Terrapins evened the match at two games apiece with a 30-25 win in the fourth. Beth Gillming extended Maryland's two point lead to 28-24 with two consecutive service aces. Smith registered a kill to make the score 29-24 and teamed up with Dewalt to block down a ball two plays later and end the game. Rachel Wagener hit .833 in the game for the Terps, with five kills on six swings and no errors.

In the fifth and deciding match, Maryland posted a 15-11 victory. Three Maryland players recorded double-doubles with Aimee Huddleston tallying 72 assists and 18 digs, DiLivio recorded ten kills and ten digs and Treadwell posting 20 kills and 14 digs.

Duke was led by DeMange, who registered 25 kills and Rufai, who recorded 23 kills and 16 digs.

The Terrapins will face North Carolina in the championship match on Sunday, November 21 at 1:00 p.m.