Salem vs. Southern Virginia | November 3 | Knight Arena & Stoddard Ctr. | Buena Vista, Va. | 7 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
For the second time in program history and the first time since the 2016 season, the Salem volleyball team captured a victory in the USA South Conference Volleyball Tournament, when graduate senior Brooklyn Snow drove the decisive point past the Meredith defense, clinching a 25-17, 19-25, 27-25, 20-25, 15-4 victory at Varsity Gym on Tuesday evening.
With neither team able to win back-to-back sets in the match, Salem grabbed a 3-1 lead in the fifth frame following an Ella Brameus service ace. An unforced error, coupled with a kill from Valeria Rosa Lopez, put Macy Nelson in sere with a 4-2 lead. Lopez and Rymer helped Nelson to extend the Salem lead to 9-2. Meredith broke the run with a slam from Madelyn Clark, but the Spirits capitalized on a kill from Lopez and an Ashlee Peek service ace to forge in front 13-3. Leading 14-4, after a block from Snow and Anna Rymer, Snow drove home the game-winning point on a pass from Nelson.
After facing each other just four days ago, in a match that went to the Avenging Angels, Salem rebounded to claim its fifth five-set victory of the season. The Spirits were led offensively by the trio of Valeria Rosa Lopez (17 kills), Anna Rymer (12) and Aspen Bradley (11). The aforementioned Snow and Abrielle Eckenroth delivered eight kills apiece, while Ashlyn Wood and Peek powered the offense with 28 and 16 assists, respectively. Salem, which finished with a .209 attack percentage, tallied 63 kills in the match.
Defensively, the combination of Nelson (24 digs) and Brameus (23), highlighted the back row. They were joined in double-digit digs by Peek (12) and Lopez (10). On the front row, Bradley and Rymer were responsible for three solo blocks each. Rymer also paired with Snow to make three assisted blocks for the Spirits.
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 20 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. The Spirits also established the USA South Conference all-time record for most league wins from one season with a +11. 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 | +20 |
| 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 hosted their second-ever USA South Conference Tournament match on Tuesday evening, resulting in a five-set win over Meredith, and seventh-ever conference tournament match, which includes five matches when the Spirits were part of the Great South Athletic Conference.
Tuesday's triumph over the Avenging Angels provided Salem with just their second all-time win in the USA South Tournament and first since a 3-0 (25-23,27-25,25-23) victory against Piedmont on November 1, 2016.
The last time that Salem won multiple matches in a postseason conference tournament was in 2014 when the Spirits were members of the Great South Athletic Conference. That tournament run began with a straight set win over Trinity (D.C.) and was followed by a pair of 3-0 victories against Wesleyan (Ga.) and Finlandia. Salem then faced Eastern in the 2014 NCAA Tournament in Newport News, Va.
| 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 |
POST-MATCH MEREDITH NUGGETS
-The five-set win over the Avenging Angels marks the first time in program history that Salem has defeated Meredith twice in the same season.
-With her 17-kill outing, Valeria Rosa Lopez needs just one kill to reach 300 on the season. With 346 from Bradley, it would mark the second time in program history that two Spirits had 300-kill seasons in the same season. The last pair to achieve the feat was Kylie Taffer (330) and Taylor Moulton (329) in 2016.
-Ella Brameus moved into fifth in Salem history in single season digs (395), passing Taylor Moulton's 2017 mark of 393 in the process. With just five more digs, she would become the fifth player in program history with at least 400 in a season.
-Ella Brameus also made her presence felt in the service game with moving her number to 52 on the season. The Chicago, Ill., native is now third in that statistical category in program history, trailing only Hillary McPhatter (56) and Hannah Delcamp (53).
-The Spirits move to 21-9 overall and add to their single-season mark for the best turnaround in league history along the way. With 20 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.
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.
At the close off the regular 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.
ANALYZING THE KNIGHTS
Southern Virginia concluded the 2022 season with a 25-7 overall mark and a 17-1 record in USA South Conference league play, earning the No. 1 seed in the USA South Conference Volleyball Tournament.
The Knights posted a 10-1 record at home with their lone setback coming early in the slate to Lynchburg by a 3-1 margin on September 6th. The only league setback came against William Peace (3-1) at Brevard, N.C., when the two collided at Boshamer Gym on September 24th. The last loss for Southern Virginia came on October 12th, at Mary Washington, and since that point the Knights have won 10 straight, including five in straight sets.
Courtney Pinkston led all Southern Virginia hitters with 457 kills (4.04 kills/set), while the duo of Sydney Hopkin (292 kills) and Breanna Clyde (272) sit on the verge of 300 kills. The Knights' offense, which posted 1,933 kills (16.53 kills/set) and averaged a .186 attack percentage, was piloted by Sage Matheny, who handed out 731 assists (9.02 assists/set).
Emma Steiger anchored the back row with 601 digs (5.32 digs/set), while the front row amassed 206.5 total blocks, due in large part to Jilane Pedersen, who had a team-high 84 total blocks after accruing 29 solo blocks and 55 assisted blocks.