Day two of the Maryland Tournament in College Park saw two teams off to fast starts meet up, as the 7-1 Gamecocks went up against the host Terrapins, who were 6-1. The first two sets were both narrow Carolina victories. It looked USC might pull away midway through the first set when the Gamecocks scored five straight points go up 14-9 as Aubrey Ezell did some nice serving, including an ace, and Brittany McLean had a pair of kills. Maryland fought back and got within two at 18-16, but another USC run pushed the lead to 22-16 as Courtney Koehler had a pair of assists and Mikayla Shields had a service ace. The Terps wouldn't go away easily though, going on a 7-1 run to tie the game at 23. Carolina then got the set's final two points on a service error by the Terps' Samantha Snyder and a kill by McLean.
Set two would be a marathon set, with Carolina finally winning it 32-30. Until the very end Maryland had the only consecutive point run more than two, as they scored four straight to go up 5-3 early on. The Terps would go up 30-29 late in the set, but USC grabbed the final three points to claim the set. Koehler finished things off with a kill off an assist from Ezell. Carolina dropped the third set 25-18, largely due to a five point run late in the set by Maryland. The Terps jumped out to a fast start in the fourth set, going up 4-0 and 6-1. USC fought back to 10-9 on kills by Claire Edwards and Alicia Starr, and then tied the game at 12 on a kill by McLean and an ace by Ezell, but Maryland pulled away late for a 25-22 win.
The Terps got the first two points of the final and deciding fifth set, but a kill by Shields got a four point run started for the Gamecocks that included the first career service ace for freshman Lauren Bowers. Maryland would tie the game at six, but USC won the next five points with a block and a kill by McLean and a pair of blocks from Claire Edwards and Courtney Koehler. The Terps made it interesting with four straight points to get within 11-10, but McLean had back to back kills and Mikayla Robinson finished things off with a kill for a 15-10 win of the final set and a match victory. Aubrey Ezell's 26 digs moved her up to fifth place all-time, while Mikayla Shields double-double (13 digs, 12 kills) gave her 19 for her career, 18th best all-time. |