Opponent:
Salem at Southern Virginia | April 10 | Buena Vista, Va. | 3 p.m. | Southern Virginia Tennis Complex
SPIRITS HEAD TO SOUTHERN VIRGINIA FOR CLASH WITH KNIGHTS
The Salem tennis team makes one of its final two road trips of the regular season on Wednesday afternoon when it heads to Buena Vista, Va., to clash with Southern Virginia. The only remaining road match for the Spirits is on April 16th, when Salem makes the trip to the North Carolina mountains to face Brevard at 2 p.m.
SCHEDULE CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
After moving the date on the match with Mary Baldwin on two occasions, the two teams have moved that match from March 22nd in Staunton, Virginia, to Winston-Salem, N.C., where they will play on April 19th at 3 p.m.
Salem tennis also canceled its final non-conference match of the season against Randolph, which was postponed on April 4th due to weather.
SPIRITS POST FIRST-EVER VICTORY OVER MEREDITH
The Salem tennis team avenged a setback to Meredith, which it suffered in the fall slate, and in the process claimed its first win over the Avenging Angels by a 6-3 margin at the Bert Lain Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
Salem, which honored the careers of seniors Alana Bridges and Emily Griffis, brought home an 8-5 victory in No. 1 doubles as the tandem of Adley Keim and Mariana Faint downed Claire Southern and Hannah Higgins. Meanwhile, Bridges joined Alyx Diggs in No. 2 doubles and the pair suffered a setback to Ellie Phillips and Ellie Osborne by an 8-2 margin.
The Avenging Angels earned their first point of the afternoon in No. 3 doubles, which came in 8-4 fashion as Hannah Jo Jablonski and Anna Bittler downed Cadence Durham and Abrielle Eckenroth.
Keim claimed her second point of the afternoon in No. 1 singles with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 victory over Osborne. Faint followed with a point of her own in No. 2 singles, dropping her opponent by scores of 6-2, 6-2.
Salem bounced back in No. 3 singles, as Durham brought home the 6-4, 6-3 victory against Higgins. Jablonski came through with the final point of the afternoon for the Avenging Angels with a 6-2, 6-2 decision against Griffis.
Bridges picked up her second point of the afternoon in No. 5 singles by scores of 6-4, 6-4 against Bittler. Meanwhile, Eckenroth added a point for Salem from No. 6 singles, defeating Jones in straight sets by scores of 6-0, 6-0.
JOCKEYING FOR POSITIONS IN THE STANDINGS
The Spirits head into Wednesday sixth in the USA South Conference standings. Salem, which is 2-2 on the season in league play, have one more win that William Peace and two more than Meredith (0-5) and Mary Baldwin (0-5).
N.C. Wesleyan sits atop the standings with a 6-0 mark, which Southern Virginia is 4-1. Methodist is in third place, followed by Brevard and Pfeiffer.
ANALYZING THE SPIRITS IN THE FIRST WEEK OF APRIL
After a solid performance by the team versus Meredith, which resulted in a 6-3 win, Salem has five individuals with at least four singles victories, including the quartet of Alana Bridges, Cadence Durham, Mariana Faint and Adley Keim, who are responsible for five singles victories apiece.
-The tandem of Faint and Keim have delivered six doubles wins for the Spirits, all from the No. 1 seed. Meanwhile, while Durham has paired with Abrielle Eckenroth to win three straight doubles matches, two of which came as the No. 3 seed. The only other pairing with multiple doubles victories is Bridges and Emily Griffis, who have two wins in doubles action in 2023-24.
-Bridges is 3-2 in her last five matches, posting a No. 5 singles win over Joyce Tate (Columbia) and a win in No. 4 singles against Haley Georgia (William Peace). Bridges' two-set win against Anna Bittler on Saturday afternoon resulted in her fifth singles victory.
-Like Bridges, Durham has also provided Salem with three 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. Durham's most recent victory, which came in two sets, came from No. 3 singles against Hannah Higgins (Meredith).
-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. The Hoosier State native claimed her fifth singles victory on Saturday in three sets against Meredith's Ellie Osborne. It marked Keim's second three-set win of the season and first since defeating Megan Rekieta (Pfeiffer) on September 30th.
-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 SOUTHERN VIRGINIA 2023-24 | 10-1 / 4-1 USA South
Salem All-Time (vs. Southern Virginia): Salem has clashed with Southern Virginia on five previous occasions with the Knights winning all five meetings. The first-ever meeting came on March 15, 2018, where the Knights emerged with a 9-0 victory. Since that point, Salem has notched just one point on two occasions, which came in 2019 (8-1) and 2023 (8-1).
IN 2023-24: The Knights host Salem with a 10-1 overall mark and a 3-1 mark at home in 2023-24. The lone setback on the season, which came in USA South Conference action, came by a 6-3 margin to N.C. Wesleyan. That loss came on March 29th in Buena Vista, Va., and since that point, Southern Virginia has posted wins over Meredith (8-1) and Methodist (7-2) in succession on April 5th and April 6th, respectively.
Southern Virginia will head Lynchburg on Tuesday afternoon for one of its two final non-conference bouts of the season. Along with hosting Salem, the Knights also have William Peace (April 13) and Sweet Briar (April 17) at home this season.
Paul Jenson (9-1) leads the Knights in singles victories, all of which have come as the No. 1 seed. She has one more singles win than teammate Lia Savage (8-1) and three more than both Jillian Arnold and Lydia Delich, who are 6-3, respectively.
Arnold has paired with Paula Snelson to earn 11 doubles victories, which tops the team in 2023-24. All 11 wins have come in No. 1 doubles for the tandem.