The Terrapin volleyball team started its North Carolina road trip on the right foot tonight.

After dropping the first set to Wake Forest (9-5, 2-2 ACC), the Terps (12-4, 3-1) were able to mount a comeback, winning the second and fourth sets to force a fifth-set tiebreaker. The Terps won the fifth set 15-10, clinching a win against the Demon Deacons.

The Terps were led in the match by junior outside hitter Maddi Lee, who totaled 18 kills and a .405 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter added 48 assists, and senior libero Bethany Springer led the team defensively with 23 digs.

The Terps will play next on Friday when they travel to Durham, N.C to face the Duke Blue Devils at 7 p.m.

Josh Vitale is The Diamondback’s volleyball beat writer. He can be reached at vitale@umdbk.com

Wild one tonight, folks. Terps blew 1-0 and 2-1 leads, able to pull it out with an Olivia Wagner corner kick that danielle Hubka buried to give the Terps the lead for good.

Check www.diamondbackonline.com tomorrow for a full recap.

It is straight-up pouring at Ludwig right now. Pouring. But the Terps were able to jump ahead in the third minute before the rain intensified after Jasmyne Spencer picked a Virginia defender’s pocket and threaded a pass to Lydia Hastings at the top of the box all alone, where she one-timed it home. It’s the first time the Terps have struck first since Sept. 8 against Seton Hall.

As the half progressed, the gameplay deteriorated with every wall of rain that descended on Ludwig. It’s been physical and sloppy, just as one would expect on a wet field between two top-10 teams.

The Terps look good though. They’re the only team to have scored a first half goal against the Cavaliers’ smothering D, and while Virginia has given the Terps a few scares, including a fourth minute header off the post and a 43rd minute breakaway, a lead on a day like today is a very, very good thing.

More to come after the game…

Tonight should be interesting. While Ludwig Field appears to have drained pretty well considering all the rain that has fallen on College Park the past couple days, but a soggy field can certainly change a game (evidenced by a freaky goal from the head of Colleen Deegan on a wet field against Delaware Sept. 12).

It remains to be seen if the weather will give either squad an advantage tonight. Both teams are well-rounded, but the edge in sloppy games like this tends to go to the better defensive team. And with Virginia having allowed a mere two goals all season — good for the best goals against average in the country — the Terps might have their hands full.

But Virginia has only played one truly strong squad in Penn State, who was ranked No. 11 when the Cavaliers tied them, 1-1, Aug. 27. And even still, the Nittany Lions are a noticeable step below the Terps.

So who knows what will happen tonight, or if the weather will even play a factor. Regardless of the outcome, however, I expect a very physical game from a match-up that produced fireworks last season.

An opportunistic Adrian Moten will be looking to create pressure Saturday against a turnover-prone Blue Devils. Jaclyn Borowski/ The Diamondback

ACC Early Peek is my latest weekly feature I will be installing right now as I try to ramp up my coverage a little bit.

And yes, I am aware it is kind of stupid to start a weekly feature four games into the season. Luckily I can just add “ACC” in front of it and make it seem like I planned to start with previews of conference games all along.

Anyways….moving on to Duke!

Essentially what I will be doing is giving a summary of the Blue Devils’ offense and with a look at three or four key players to watch for on each unit.

Let’s get started.

Offense

The skinny:

While the Blue Devils (1-3, 0-1 ACC) gained 372 yards Saturday and outgained Army in their 35-21 loss to the Black Knights, they also turned the ball over five times, including three interceptions from quarterback Sean Renfree. Their leading rusher was Desmond Scott with 34 yards and they were just 1-for-8 on third down.

They are currently 20th in the country in passing yards per game (281.25), 72nd in rushing (144.50), and 50th in scoring offense at 30.75 points per game. All respectable numbers considering they lost their Mr. Everything in Thaddeus Lewis. However they also -4  in the turnover margin and they have turned the ball over 10 times in just four games.

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The Terps know they need to get better at turning third downs into first downs. Right now, they have succeeded in moving the chains just 10 of the 43 times they have faced third-down situations, a conversion rate that ranks 117th out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

But the Terps can’t pinpoint one issue as the cause of their third-down woes.

“I don’t see that there’s any particular thing about them that we can focus on,” Friedgen said. “Sometimes it’s protection, and sometimes it’s route-running. It’s not one thing.”
Against Florida International, the team went two-of-12 on third down and didn’t convert any on its scoring drives.

One of the problems, Friedgen said, is that the offensive line is often left scrambling on the blitzes that frequently accompany third-down situations. Another problem even more troubling to Friedgen is the long distance the Terps often have to cover. Five of the 12 third downs against the Golden Panthers faced distances of 10 yards or longer.

“That means we’re not doing very good on first or second down, either,” Friedgen said.
No matter the reason, the Terps have made it an area of focus this week as they prepare for their ACC opener against Duke.

“You’ve got to convert those things to keep the drives going,” wide receiver Torrey Smith said. “And we’re having too many three-and-outs. So I think we’ve just got to work in practice on closing it out and not having any breakdowns.”

Kate Yanchulis is the 2010 Terrapin football beat writer. She can be reached at kyanchulisdbk@gmail.com.

If you didn’t catch it, the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels (who beat the Terrapin men’s soccer team last Friday night 2-1) lost on the road tonight to Old Dominion 2-1 after a game winning goal in the 79th minute.

Fresh off a quality conference win against the Terps and rising to the second rank in the country, the Tar Heels fell apart for only their second loss of the season. For Terps fans, coaches and players, this is seemingly a disturbing trend.

In the past two years, the Terps have lost six games in the regular season. Four of those teams went on to lose their very next game – hurting both them and the Terps in the process.

And coach Sasho Cirovski knows all about it.

“Unfortunately, every time we play a team on a Friday they tend to not do well on Sunday,” Cirovski said following the team’s loss to Michigan State. “UCLA last year, almost every other team we played didn’t play well the next Sunday. We force teams to use a lot of energy to compete.”

2010:
Sept. 3 – Michigan State (4-3 OT), lost at Georgetown 4-0
Sept. 28 – at North Carolina (2-1), lost at Old Dominion 2-1

2009:
Sept. 4 – UCLA (2-0), lost at Georgetown 2-0
Sept. 29 – at George Mason (2-0), beat William and Mary 1-0
Oct. 2 – at Duke (2-0), lost at Davidson 4-1
Oct. 24 – at Wake Forest (1-0), won at Davidson 4-1

**In parentheses is the winning score of the game against the Terps**

And these just aren’t any loses – Michigan State, North Carolina, UCLA and Duke all lost to unranked and unrecognized opponents in what each would probablyclassify as a disaster.

Anyways, tough break for the Terps as they look to climb back up the rankings after taking a tumble today (average around #9-#10). Friday night they can make it all back quick with a win against Duke.

Chris Eckard is the Diamondback’s Terrapin men’s soccer beat reporter. Reach him at ceckard@umdbk.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ceckard.

The Terrapin field hockey team just started its game against No. 4 Princeton, and although I didn’t make the trip up to New Jersey (hey I have two tests this week people), there is some other news to report on.

Freshman forward Jill Witmer — for the second consecutive week — brought home the ACC’s player of the week award, the conference announced earlier today.

Witmer scored two goals, including the eventual game winner, against then-No. 8 Wake Forest on Saturday.

This is the third time in five weeks that a Terp has brought home the honor. Forward Katie O’Donnell claimed the award in the season’s opening week.

The Terps (8-0, 2-0 ACC) have been ranked No. 2 in the Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll since week one, but in this week’s poll the Terps jumped over North Carolina to claim the top spot.

The Tar Heels claimed more first place votes (31) than the Terps (12), but with 1035 points, compared to North Carolina’s 1020, the Terps catapulted into the top spot for the first time this season.

I’ll be speaking to coach Missy Meharg following tonight’s game, so check out tomorrow’s Diamondback for a recap of the Terps’ visit to Princeton.

Jakob Engelke is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Field Hockey beat reporter. He can be reached at jengelke@umdbk.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jakob_Engelke.

More than 320 plays in only four games for the Terps' defense? Coach Ralph Friedgen is not a happy camper. Matthew Creger/The Diamondback

Through four games, the Terrapin football team’s defense has been on the field for a total of 321 plays, and that’s not even counting those nullified by penalties. If you toss out the game against Morgan State, the defense played more than 80 snaps in every single game.

But Saturday against FIU, it got a little absurd.

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Quarterback Danny O'Brien helped the Terps' offense get going Saturday, throwing for 250 yards and two touchdowns against FIU. Jaclyn Borowski/The Diamondback

Two days after throwing for 250 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start, Terrapin quarterback Danny O’Brien was rewarded for his strong debut by the ACC when they announced he was the conference’s Rookie of the Week.

The redshirt freshman had been battling a high ankle sprain and wasn’t expected to make a large impact against Florida International against Saturday. But, because of regular starter Jamarr Robinson’s shoulder soreness, O’Brien earned the start, completing 18-of-27 passes, including an eight-yard touchdown throw to receiver LaQuan Williams and a 68-yard touchdown to Torrey Smith.

O’Brien also managed to avoid costly mistakes and turnovers and both head coach Ralph Friedgen and offensive coordinator James Franklin praised his poise and maturity, as well as his accuracy, in Saturday’s game.

Robinson is still recovering from the shoulder injury but should be available for next weekend’s conference opener against Duke. However, Friedgen said that, if everything remains “status quo”, O’Brien would likely be the starter against the Blue Devils next Saturday.

Mike Lemaire is the 2010 Terrapin football beat writer. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter.