By Sununu Bah

With Big Ten play right around the corner, Maryland volleyball went to the bench early and often in its straight-set (25-12, 25-9, 25-10) sweep over first-year Division One program Le Moyne.

Coming off a weekend sweep at the Maryland Invitational where they won their first five-setter of the season, Maryland (8-2) emptied its bench against the Dolphins, who have won only one one set in their 0-8 season. 

Outside hitter Erin Morrisey made her first start since facing [RV] Miami during opening weekend,  replacing Sam Csire, who sat out. Zoe Huang and Ellie Watson earned their first starts of the season at setter and middle blocker, allowing Sydney Dowler to sit out and Anastasia Russ to rest a set.

Maryland logged 38 kills and hit .443 on the day, its best mark since 2000 when they hit .484 against Lafayette. The Terps held the Dolphins to -.080 en route to their third consecutive sweep of the season. 

Morrisey had a career night, knocking down a career-high nine kills. Junior setters Huang and Engel, on the other hand, recorded their first kills of their collegiate careers in the third set. 

Maryland started the game on a 4-1 run with a pair of kills from Laila Ricks and Morrisey. Engel continued the moment after the Dolphins scored their second point of the set with three service aces. Ellie Watson capped off the .556 hit frame with a big hit off one foot. Maryland had 17 kills and four scoring runs of at least three consecutive points in the set.

Le Moyne kept the second set interesting through the first 10 points but an 8-0 run fueled by three Russ kills gave Maryland a 13-5 lead they never looked back from. Russ had four kills and four blocks in the set.

Like the second set, Le Moyne kept things close to start the set with a 4-3 advantage. But a 12-0 run sealed the game for the Terps. 

Maryland will face Florida Atlantic at 1 p.m. and Florida Gulf Coast at 7 p.m. Saturday to close out the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic in the Alico Arena.