Greensboro vs. Methodist | Saturday, September 24th | 2:00 p.m.
Physical Activities Center | Staunton, Va. | Mary Baldwin
Greensboro vs. Mary Baldwin | Saturday, September 24th | 4:00 p.m.
Physical Activities Center | Staunton, Va. | Mary Baldwin
LAST TIME OUT
The Spirits opened the 2022 USA South Conference slate with a 3-1 (16-25, 25-16, 28-26, 25-17) setback to intracity rival Greensboro on Wednesday, September 22nd. Valeria Rosa Lopez came through with 14 digs and 10 kills, while teammates Aspen Bradley (11 kills) and Macy Nelson (15 digs) led the Spirits in their respective categories.
WEEKEND MATCHES ON THE ROAD
For the second time in as many weekends, Salem volleyball team will take to the road, this time facing Methodist and Mary Baldwin in Staunton, Va., on the Mary Baldwin campus. This comes on the heels of the Spirits making a trek to Brevard, N.C., facing Bob Jones and Huntingdon in back-to-back matches last weekend.
KILLIN' IT
The Salem duo of Aspen Bradley and Anna Rymer, who have combined for double figure kills on 11 occasions, topped the 100-kill mark in Wednesday's clash with Greensboro. Bradley leads the Spirits lineup with 110 kills, while Rymer ranks second with 101. Bradley has rattled off seven double-digit kill outings this season, including four in her first four matches. Meanwhile, Rymer has reached double figures in kills on four occasions, most recently against Huntingdon, when she tallied 12.
Valeria Rosa Lopez sits eight kills shy of 100 on the season, delivering 35 in her last three matches alone. Lopez has six double-digit kill outings this season for Salem, second to Bradley's seven.
DEFENSIVE PROWESS
Salem's trio of Ella Brameus (128), Lopez (119) and Macy Nelson (103) have provided back row consistency throughout the early going.
Brameus, who earned USA South Defensive Player of the Week honors on Monday, has now tallied double-digit digs in each of her last four matches. She has accounted for 67 of her 128 total digs in her last four outings, including a single-match season-high 23 in a four-set clash with Huntingdon.
Lopez, second on the unit in total digs, has eclipsed 100-digs on the season while coming through with six double-doubles along the way. Lopez has double figure digs in six of her last seven outings, a stretch which began with a 19-dig performance in a five-set clash against Roanoke on September 9th.
Nelson returned to the Salem lineup, after missing the match with Huntingdon, to reach double figure digs for the sixth time in 2022. Nelson wrapped her first season with 281 total digs at a clip of 3.31 digs/set, and has a 19-dig outing to her credit against Randolph (Sept. 10) earlier this season. Averaging 3.43 digs/set in 2022, Nelson has played a key role in developing a Salem backrow that is averaging 16.76 digs/set this season.
REFLECTING ON WEDNESDAY'S GREENSBORO MATCH
The Spirits have competed in just one match this week, which took place at Varsity Gym against USA South Conference rival Greensboro.
Valeria Rosa Lopez came through with 14 digs and 10 kills, while teammates Aspen Bradley (11 kills) and Macy Nelson (15 digs) led the Spirits in their respective categories, but it was the offensive trio of Kantley McKown (13 kills), Taylor Cotie (11) and Payton Shiflet (10) that delivered Greensboro a four-set victory (16-25, 25-16, 28-26, 25-17) on Wednesday evening at Varsity Gym.
Lopez recorded her sixth double-double of the season and joined Bradley in double figure kills as Salem tallied 44 kills in the match. Nelson returned to the lineup and delivered her sixth double-digit dig match of the season, one more than Ella Brameus and Lopez, who finished with 14. Ashlyn Wood was also instrumental on defense, tallying 13 digs along with a team-high 21 assists.
Greensboro made its presence felt on the front row with 14 assisted blocks, including four from Cotie and three each by Jaylyn Templeton, Jade Vrobel and Kelci Brooks. The Pride posted a .201 attack percentage and were led on the back row by Lauren Mantel, who had 17 digs.