Opponent:
Salem vs. Meredith | April 6 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 12 p.m. | Bert Lain Tennis Center
SPIRITS HOST MEREDITH FOR SENIOR DAY
The Salem team opens April action with a USA South Conference clash with Meredith at 12 p.m. The Spirits will honor seniors Alana Bridges and Emily Griffis for their contributions to the program over the last two seasons.
The Spirits go in search of their fifth win of the season, all of which have come at home.
SALEM FALLS IN CLASH WITH PFEIFFER
The Pfeiffer tennis team took advantage of Salem competing in its second match in a four-day stretch, earning a 9-0 victory at the Bert Lain Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Falcons, who picked up their seventh win in the head-to-head series, claimed the first point of the match in No. 1 doubles as Caimbree Gann and Megan Rekieta downed Mariana Faint and Adley Keim by an 8-1 margin. Pfeiffer followed that with an 8-2 win by Alison Sloop and Riley Isley, who defeated Alana Bridges and Emily Griffis.
The third point went the way of the Falcons in No. 3 doubles after Haley Ingenito and Kristen Colle posted an 8-4 win against Abrielle Eckenroth and Cadence Durham. That lead moved to 4-0 for Pfeiffer when Colle claimed a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Jessea James in No. 6 singles.
Sloop picked up her second point of the day, fifth for the Falcons, in a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Eckenroth. The No. 2 pairing of Rekieta and Faint proved to be the decisive team point for the Falcons, with a 6-2, 6-0 victory. Pfeiffer moved that margin to 7-0 after Ingenito took down Durham, 6-0, 6-1.
Fourth-seeded Isley provided the eighth point of the clash for Pfeiffer as she defeated Bridges by scores of 6-3, 6-2. The final point went to No. 1 seeded Ryley Gray, who held off Keim as the Falcons held Salem scoreless in the team battle for the third time in the all-time series.
LOOKING BACK AT THE 2023-24 SENIOR CLASS
Seniors Alana Bridges and Emily Griffis have left their mark on the Salem Tennis program by helping the Spirits clinch their first-ever trip to the USA South Conference Tournament, which came at the close of the 2022-23 season. In just two years, they have helped Salem win nine matches, including three in USA South Conference play.
Alana Bridges Capsule: Alana is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. Alana made an immediate impact on the Spirits a season ago, closing with a team-best seven singles victories, including two each as the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seed. Entering this weekend, she is one of four Spirits with four singles wins, which is also a team-best.
Emily Griffis Capsule: In 2022-23, she played in 18 singles matches, including 12 as the Spirits' number two seed. She also competed in 16 doubles matches, including 15 as the No. 1 seed. This season, she has competed as both the No. 3 and No. 4 seed in singles. In doubles action, Emily has grabbed two victories alongside Bridges, including an 8-0 victory at the close of March at William Peace.
BREAKING DOWN SALEM AS MARCH CONCLUDES
Entering the first match of April, Salem has five individuals with at least three singles victories, including the quartet of Alana Bridges, Cadence Durham, Mariana Faint and Adley Keim, who are responsible for four singles victories apiece.
The tandem of Faint and Keim have delivered five doubles wins for the Spirits, all from the No. 1 seed, while Durham has paired with Abrielle Eckenroth to win three straight doubles matches, two of which came as the No. 3 seed.
-Bridges is 2-2 in her last four matches, posting a No. 5 singles win over Joyce Tate (Columbia) and a win in No. 4 singles against Haley Georgia (William Peace), which moved her to four wins on the season.
-Like Bridges, Durham has also provided Salem with two singles wins in her last four matches. Durham posted her two points in No. 3 singles, taking down Aniya Sims (Columbia) and Mya Sampson (William Peace) along the way.
-Keim was the first to reach four singles wins on the season, winning her first four singles outings of the season. Three of those victories for the Indiana first-year came in the fall slate and the most recent singles win came in the first match of the season, against Ferrum, with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Morgan Hundley.
-Eckenroth joined forces with Durham in a clash with Sweet Briar on February 25th, when the two earned an 8-5 victory. The two followed with an 8-4 win against Methodist and an 8-0 victory over William Peace.
ANALYZING MEREDITH 2023-24 | 4-8 / 0-3 USA South
Salem All-Time (vs. Meredith): The Avenging Angels are 7-0 all-time against Salem in program history entering this weekend.
The two teams met in the fall portion of the schedule with Salem notching four points in the head-to-head meeting on September 30th. Those four points by the Spirits marked the most in a single match in the series history, which had been five in the first six matches.
vs. Meredith (Sept. 30): The pair of Keim and Faint posted their second doubles win of the day in the match with Meredith, posting an 8-4 win over Ellie Phillips and Hannah Higgins.
Ellie Osborne and Ryann Jennings earned an 8-2 victory against Bridges and Griffis, while Savannah Duduk and Claire Southern took down Diggs and Durham by a 9-7 score for the Avenging Angels.
Keim's perfect record in singles play stayed intact following a 6-1, 1-0 (ret.) win over Osborne. Faint was also key for Salem in singles, providing a point with a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Phillips.
Durham's 6-0, 7-5 win from No. 3 allowed Salem to sweep the Top-3 with a win over Higgins.
Jennings came through with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Griffis, while Dudu earned a 6-3, 6-3 win over Bridges. The Avenging Angels also received a point in No. 6 singles as Southern handed Diggs a 6-0, 6-0 loss.
Meredith enters Saturday's match with a 4-8 overall mark and an 0-3 record in USA South Conference action. The Avenging Angels have dropped their last three outings to Methodist (9-0), Brevard (9-0) and N.C. Wesleyan (8-1) in succession.
Before facing Salem, Meredith will host Southern Virginia on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.
