Salem vs. Meredith | November 1 | Varsity Gym | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 7 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Spirits wrapped up the 2022 regular season with a tri-match at Pfeiffer in Misenheimer, N.C. In the first match of the afternoon, Ella Brameus sparked the Salem offense with a team-high 10 kills, while Abrielle Eckenroth and Valeria Rosa Lopez both closed the match with nine apiece. Lopez was also an active defender with a team-high 21 digs, while Macy Nelson tallied 11 and Ashlyn Wood reached double-digit digs with 10.
Salem, which dropped a four-set clash with Meredith, struggled to find its usual offensive rhythm, posting a .185 attack percentage, due in large part to 23 miscues. Wood quarterbacked the offensive attack with 20 assists, while Ashlee Peek closed with 19.
The regular season came to a close with a four-set win over Pfeiffer in the final match of the day. Sophomore Anna Rymer emerged with a match-high 16 kills, finishing with a .538 attack percentage, as Salem earned the four-set win over Pfeiffer. She was joined offensively by Brooklyn Snow (10 kills) and Aspen Bradley (nine), as Salem finished with 55 total kills and a .258 attack percentage. The offense was led by setters Ashlee Peek and Ashlyn Wood, who came through with 23 and 18 sets, respectively.
Ella Brameus closed out a solid defensive outing with 12 digs, while Macy Nelson equaled her teammate with 12 digs for the Spirits' back row. Wood contributed 11 for Salem to cap off her 11th double-double of the slate.
STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM AND WE'RE HERE
The Salem volleyball team's performance over the course of the 2022 season is symbolic of the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards Track of the Year, performed by the artist Drake "Started from the Bottom."
Salem volleyball was picked to finish ninth in the USA South Conference in the preseason polls released on August 26, 2022, after just one victory in 2021. Salem head coach Barry Rymer used those polls as motivation with his unit, and as a result the Spirits finished 12-6 in league action—which resulted in the most conference wins in program history—and established the single-season mark for the best turnaround in league history along the way.
With 19 more wins than the previous season, Salem bested the 2010 Greensboro volleyball team's mark of 16 wins, for the best turnaround in league history. Salem is one of 12 programs in USA South Conference since 2001 to improve its win total by at least 10 wins.
BIGGEST WIN IMPROVEMENTS FROM ONE SEASON TO NEXT IN USA SOUTH
| Team | Season | Wins Improvement from Previous |
| Salem | 2022 | +19 |
| Greensboro | 2010 | +16 |
| Pfeiffer # | 2021 | +15 |
| Meredith # | 2021 | +14 |
| Greensboro | 2019 | +13 |
| N.C. Wesleyan # | 2021 | +13 |
| Greensboro | 2016 | +12 |
| Christopher Newport | 2003 | +11 |
| Averett # | 2021 | +11 |
| Covenant # | 2021 | +11 |
| Methodist | 2017 | +10 |
| Berea | 2019 | +10 |
| #-2021 Fall Season after COVID-19 shortened season (2021 Spring) | ||
SALEM'S HISTORY IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
For the fifth time since joining the USA South Conference, Salem placed fourth in the regular season standings. With their fourth-place performance, the Spirits will host their second-ever USA South Conference Tournament match and seventh-ever conference tournament match, which includes five matches when the Spirits were part of the Great South Athletic Conference.
Salem and Meredith have met on 17 occasions in their all-time series, which dates back to the 2009 season, but the two have never met as part of a conference tournament match. It is also the first time in the head-to-head series that they have clashed three times in the same calendar year.
| GREAT SOUTH ATHLETIC CONFERENCE | |||||
| Date | Season | Opponent | Result | Score | Set Scores |
| N6 | 2009 | vs. (5) Spelman & | W | 3-0 | 25-5,25-21,25-12 |
| N6 | 2009 | at (1) Maryville & | L | 0-3 | 12-25,13-25,13-25 |
| N3 | 2012 | at Agnes Scott % | W | 3-2 | 20-25,16-25,25-18,25-15,15-10 |
| N3 | 2012 | vs. Huntingdon % | W | 3-1 | 25-20,25-23,19-25,25-9 |
| N9 | 2013 | vs. Finlandia % | W | 3-1 | 16-25,25-9,25-11,25-21 |
| N9 | 2013 | vs. Agnes Scott % | L | 1-3 | 25-20,13-25,20-25,12-25 |
| N7 | 2014 | vs. Trinity (D.C.) % | W | 3-0 | 25-11,25-8,25-8 |
| N8 | 2014 | vs. Wesleyan (Ga.) % | W | 3-0 | 25-10,25-19,25-12 |
| N8 | 2014 | vs. Finlandia % | W | 3-0 | 25-18,25-14,25-16 |
| N6 | 2015 | vs. Mount Mary % | W | 3-1 | 25-19, 25-15, 25-27, 25-20 |
| N7 | 2015 | vs. (1) UC-Santa Cruz % | L | 0-3 | 11-25,21-25,8-25 |
| USA SOUTH CONFERENCE | |||||
| Date | Season | Opponent | Result | Score | Set Scores |
| N1 | 2016 | vs. Piedmont @ | W | 3-0 | 25-23,27-25,25-23 |
| N1 | 2016 | at Maryville @ | L | 0-3 | 14-25,20-25,21-25 |
| O31 | 2017 | vs. Methodist @ | L | 0-3 | 23-25,15-25,19-25 |
| O30 | 2018 | vs. Methodist @ | L | 1-3 | 25-19,15-25,20-25,17-25 |
| N5 | 2019 | vs. Greensboro @ | L | 2-3 | 25-20,25-15,16-25,21-25,11-15 |
WHAT LIES AHEAD
The winner of the Salem-Meredith match, which features the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the USA South Conference Tournament, will face the winner of clash between No. 1 Southern Virginia and No. 8 Pfeiffer on Thursday evening.
BRADLEY ASCENDS TO TOP OF SINGLE-SEASON KILL LEADERS
On Saturday afternoon, Bradley combined for 18 kills against Meredith and Pfeiffer, to give her both the first-year and program record for most single-season kills (335). She surpassed the previous all-time mark of Kylie Taffer (330) and first-year mark of Taylor Moulton (329).
Bradley entered the final two matches of the slate with 317 kills to her credit, needing 13 to surpass Moulton and 14 to overtake Taffer for the program's first-year and single-season kill marks, respectively.
After a nine-kill outing against Meredith she stood just shy of both records with a clash against Pfeiffer remaining. It was in the second set of the match with the Falcons that she became the single-season leader in both statistical categories.
Bradley has reached double-digit kills on 22 occasions this season, notching at least 15 kills in seven matches. She established her single-season match-high in kills (20) in a five-set win over Brevard on October 4th.
EFFICIENT, EFFICIENT, EFFICIENT
Heading into the 2022 campaign one person, Lauren Holman, topped the list among the players with the best hitting percentage in a single season. Holman sat atop the list as the only Salem hitter with a .300 attack percentage, finishing off the 2017 campaign with 27 kills, five errors and 72 total attacks, resulting in a .306 attack percentage.
This season, the trio of Ashlyn Wood, Aspen Bradley and Anna Rymer joined Holman as the others with a .300 attack percentage. The 2022 trio achieved this status with the encouragement of head coach Barry Rymer, who constantly preached the importance of efficiency in his offense throughout the course of the season.
Salem finished with at least a team .300 hitting percentage on 10 occasions, including a single-season high (.458) coming in a three-set victory over Hollins. One of the best stretches by the Spirits offense came from October 15th through October 22nd, when Salem hit at least .300 in five of six matches.
Individually, Wood set the program mark for best attack percentage (.364) in a single season, while Bradley moved to second with a .332 percentage and Rymer slid into third in a single season with a .310.
BRAMEUS' SERVICE GAME, BACK ROW PROWESS BENEFITS SALEM
Ella Brameus made her impact felt in the service game with a pair of aces, giving her 49 on the slate. The Chicago, Ill., native is now fourth in single-season aces with 49, seven off the record by Hillary McPhatter.
Brameus also is sixth in Salem history in single season digs (372). She now trails Taylor Moulton's 2017 mark of 393 digs for fifth-most.
SPIRITS' STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Three Spirits, including Aspen Bradley (335), Valeria Rosa Lopez (282) and Anna Rymer (270) led the way in kills for the team in 2022. Bradley topped all hitters with a 3.10 kill/set average, while Lopez managed 2.69 kills/set and Rymer tallied 2.50 kills/set. Collectively, they accounted for 62.6 percent of the Spirits' 1,417 kills on the season.
Teammates Ashlyn Wood and Ashlee Peek, who amassed 644 and 440 assists, respectively, helped Salem to finish with a .234 team attack percentage. That resulted in the best single-season attack percentage in program history, topping the previous high (.183), set by both the 2016 and 2017 teams by .051 percentage points.
Salem's threesome of Ella Brameus (372), Lopez (357) and Macy Nelson (310) led the way in total digs. They played a key role in helping the Spirits amass the second-most single-season digs in program history, trailing just the 2017 unit, which tallied 2240 (18.12 digs/set).
Rymer also made her impact felt on the front row for the Salem defense, making 68 total blocks along with a team-best 24 solo blocks. Bradley came through with 47 total blocks in the regular season, finishing with 20 solo stops.
ANALYZING THE AVENGING ANGELS
Meredith wrapped up the 2022 season by winning five of its final six matches, suffering only a 3-1 setback to William Peace on October 26th, along the way. As a result, the Avenging Angels were 20-11 overall and 12-6 in the USA South Conference.
The tandem of Hailey Long and Lauren Bissette were the keys to the Avenging Angels' offense with 362 and 351 kills, respectively. Long averaged 3.18 kills/set, posting a .216 attack percentage with a team-high 994 total attacks. Meanwhile, Bissette was the most efficient hitter for Meredith with a .448 attack percentage.
Meredith tallied 1,396 total kills along with a .246 attack percentage, highlighted by Lillie Davis, who came through with 990 assists (8.76 assists/set). Teammate Hannah Jo Jablonski led the way with 51 service aces.
Jablonski was also the catalyst to the back row, topping the unit with 433 digs (4.05 digs/set), while Davis was second with 265 digs. Kenzie Moore anchored the front row with 78 total blocks, including 49 assisted, while Bissette was second with 73 total blocks, posting a team-high 31 solo blocks.
