Maryland volleyball welcomes pair of ranked opponents to College Park

Fresh off their first victory over a ranked opponent in five years, the Terrapins will look to continue their strong play this week as they continue their grueling Big Ten schedule. Maryland was defeated by both of these teams in their matches earlier in the season, but they're a stronger, more confident team now. It will be interesting to see how the team responds following their biggest victory in quite some time.

Purdue

The Boilermakers and Terrapins squared off in West Lafayette in early October. Maryland lost the match 3-1. Adreene' Elliott led the way -- as she has done for most of conference play. The outside hitter had 21 kills.

Purdue is 18-7 on the season, with a 9-5 conference record. They sit at No. 17 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, which is one spot lower than last week. Their last match ended in a 3-2 victory over Iowa.

The team ranks second in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.267 percent) and assists per set (13.19) during conference play.

Annie Drews has remained productive in her senior season. The 2014 All-Big Ten selection averages 4.20 kills per set in Big Ten play. She is joined by middle blocker Faye Adelaja, who's second in the conference in hitting percentage.

If you're a math type of person, then the transitive property states that Maryland should win this match. Said property would lead one to believe that since the Terps defeated Ohio State and Ohio State beat Purdue, Maryland should also beat Purdue.

Unfortunately for the math aficionados, this generally doesn't play out very often in the world of sports, and it will require another extremely strong effort from the Terps in order to beat the Boilermakers.

MATCH INFO:

WHO: Maryland vs. No. 17 Purdue

WHEN: Wednesday, November 11th. 6PM

WHERE: Xfinity Center Pavilion

HOW TO FOLLOW: Live stream via BTN+, live stats on umterps.com and @TerpsVolleyball on Twitter

Nebraska

Maryland and Nebraska will be very familiar with each other when they meet Saturday evening. The two met in Nebraska on Halloween night in a match the Cornhuskers won in straight sets.

The No. 8 team in the country is currently sitting on a four match winning streak. Every one of these victories has ended in a sweep, with their most recent victim being the Indiana Hoosiers.

Nebraska has an 11-3 conference record. Much of that is due to the play of Annika Albrech and Amber Rolfzen. Albrech, a senior outside hitter, is tied for the Big Ten lead with 0.35 aces per set. Rolfzen, who was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season, leads the conference with 1.61 blocks per set.

As a team, the Cornhuskers rank first in the Big Ten in digs per set as well as kills per set. They average 15.92 digs and 14.30 kills, showing their dominance both offensively and defensively.

There isn't a math property that would work in Maryland's favor for this one. It will take a near-perfect performance in order to knock off a Nebraska team who is playing some of their best volleyball of the season.

MATCH INFO:

WHO: Maryland vs. No. 8 Nebraska

WHEN: Saturday, November 14th. 7PM.

WHERE: Xfinity Center Pavilion

HOW TO FOLLOW: Live stream via BTN+, live stats on umterps.com and @TerpsVolleyball on Twitter