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The Terps faced off against the Flames from Liberty in the morning and found themselves down two sets to none (23-25 & 19-25) early on. Despite hitting .289 and .261 respectively, the problem was that defensively Maryland had no answer for the Flames as they hit a blistering .429 and .609. The third set was extremely tight with no team having more than a three point lead until the Terps pulled away (25-22) behind kills from Emily Fraik and Adreene Elliott.
During set four, senior Ashleigh Crutcher left the floor with an injury and did not return. This led to some creative lineups with setter Carlotta Oggioni playing in multiple positions on the floor and Kelsey Hrebenach and Catie Coyle playing some middle and right side. Despite losing Crutcher Maryland rose their level offensively and defensively. They hit .474, held Liberty to -.040 and cruised to a 25-14 set four win.
The final set was back and forth with both teams struggling to hit with any efficiency. A Fraik kill along with an ace from freshmen Sam Higginbothem finished off a clutch comeback match victory. Adreene Elliott had a career high 24 kills and hit .247. After a rough first match, freshmen Hailey Murray had a tremendous second match with 11 kills while hitting .529.
The afternoon match pitted Maryland against San Jose State. With an ailing Crutcher sidelined, the Terps shifted Elliott to the outside with Fraik and moved Hrebenach to the right side. The first set was tightly contested with Maryland pulling out a close 28-26 victory. The second set proved to be Maryland's best, easily winning 25-12. The third set was much better for both teams. Two late kills from Elliott were the final push Maryland needed to win the third set 25-23 and clinch the tournament title. Elliott led in kills again with 14 but Fraik had a great match with 12 kills and 10 digs while hitting .314.
Maryland (3-0) has a quick trip around the Beltway for a tournament next weekend at George Mason. The opening match against Lehigh starts at 5:00PM on Friday.