Opponent:
Salem vs. Meredith | October 9 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | Varsity Gym | 7:00 p.m.

SPIRITS LOOKING TO EVEN SEASON SERIES WITH MEREDITH
Salem volleyball is set to host its first match of October on Monday, welcoming Meredith to Varsity Gym. The Spirits are seeking their fourth-ever win against Meredith, while looking to avenge a setback in mid-September. Meredith enters the match second in the USA South Conference standings, owning a 7-2 record, while Salem is fifth with a 6-4 mark.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE SPIRITS
The Salem volleyball team picked up its sixth road win of the season and third by virtue of a 3-0 sweep with a 25-23, 25-15, 27-25 victory over USA South Conference foe Mary Baldwin on Saturday afternoon. The victory gives the Spirits their seventh in the last eight matches as they return home to face Meredith and Greensboro in a pair of league matches next week.

Aspen Bradley led all Salem hitters with nine kills, posting a .238 attack percentage along the way, while Valeria Rosa Lopez came through with eight kills and Anna Rymer added seven. Ashlyn Wood paced the offense with 15 assists, adding four digs and two service aces along the way, helping Salem to finish the match with a .208 attack percentage and 34 kills.

The Spirits' defense was led by Lopez (nine digs) and Jolina Bun (seven) on the back row, while Rymer (three solo blocks) and Bradley (one solo block) highlighted the front row.

TRACKING LOPEZ'S MOVE UP THE STATISTICAL CHARTS
In 2023, Salem senior outside hitter Valeria Rosa Lopez joined Taylor Moulton as the only two players in program history to rank inside both all-time kills and digs in Spirits' volleyball history.

Lopez ranks third in kills (890) as she looks to join Moulton and Kylie Taffer as the only three players in Spirits history with 1,000 kills in a career. Lopez needs 110 kills to reach that milestone.

She has also marched up the career digs mark, moving into third with 1,222 in her Salem career. Lopez entered the season fifth in all-time digs with 983 to her credit, trailing Hannah Delcamp (994) and Mariah Sharon (998) for fourth and third, respectively.

After surging past both Delcamp and Sharon on the all-time digs list, the Ponce, Puerto Rico, native now sits exactly 51 digs from tying Zy Henderson (2012-14) in digs with 1,273. Moulton owns the program mark with 1,369. Lopez enters the week with 890 career kills, which is third-most all-time in program history.

WOOD HAS SIGHTS SET ON MAHER
Salem setter Ashlyn Wood, who became the fourth setter in program history in program history to reach 1,000 assists in her career against N.C. Wesleyan on September 23rd, is looking to move into the Top-3 in all-time assists by season's end.

Wood enters the week with 1,101 assists, needs just 291 assists to equal Sara Maher for third in program history.

Wood has amassed 416 assists through the first 20 matches of the season, averaging 5.86 assists per set along the way. Last season, in her first year, Wood tallied 685 assists (5.91 assists/set).

SPIRITS MAKING THE IMPACT IN USA SOUTH CONFERENCE PLAY
For the fifth time in the last six years, the 2021 season being the exception, the Spirits have won at least six matches in USA South Conference action.
Salem has reached this mark by virtue of 431 team kills (12.31 kills/set), posting a .203 attack percentage in the process. The Top-3 hitters to make the biggest offensive impact for the Spirits have been Valeria Rosa Lopez (121 kills), Aspen Bradley (94) and Anna Rymer.

Lopez has topped the double-digit kill mark on 12 occasions this season, including a stretch of seven straight matches, where she set the program record for most single-match kills (27, vs. Methodist). However, she has not reached double figure kills in her last three outings for the Spirits.

Meanwhile, Bradley has narrowed in on 100 kills in league play with at least nine kills in her last six outings. Since the second match of a clash with N.C. Wesleyan on September 23rd, the Oregon native has had four double-digit kill outings, which includes a single-match season-high 18 (vs. Methodist).

Rymer has provided consistency to the front row, not only in the form of kills, but also with her role as a setter. She has tallied at least seven kills in five of the last six outings, while driving home a single-match season-high 17 kills in the five-set triumph over Methodist on September 26th.

Rymer is second to Ashlyn Wood in assists versus league opponents, with Wood handing out 190 and Rymer adding 153. However, Rymer is the only Spirit with double-digit service aces (20), 11 more than Jolina Bun. Rymer has also made her impact felt on front row with 26 total blocks (11 solo / 15 assisted).

Lopez is anchoring the back row for Salem with 111 digs, while the first year Bun has reached the century mark with 101 digs (2.97 digs/set) of her own. Bun has reached double-digit digs on 11 occasions, while Lopez has 15 double-digit dig performances to her credit. Lopez has managed 10 double-doubles (digs/kills) on the season.

HOW THE TWO HAVE FAIRED SINCE THE LAST CLASH IN SEPTEMBER
-Salem has gone 7-2 since suffering a setback to Meredith on September 14th.
-The Spirits put together six of those seven victories from Sept. 19-30, tying the program mark for most consecutive wins.
-Three of Salem's seven wins have come by virtue of a sweep.
-Meredith has a 6-3 mark since the two teams last met in Raleigh, N.C.
-The three setbacks came to Southern Virginia, Christopher Newport and William Pease.
-Like Salem, three wins since the two last met have come by virtue of a sweep for the Avenging Angels.

Recapping the September 14th Match: Valeria Rosa Lopez drove home a team-best nine kills, finishing with a .381 attack percentage, and teammate Abrielle Eckenroth added five kills, but a highly-efficient hitting performance by Meredith resulted in a 25-16, 25-9, 25-22 triumph over the Spirits when the two teams collided in USA South Conference volleyball action on Thursday, September 14th.

Meredith, which finished with a .333 attack percentage, tallied 40 kills in 90 attempts, highlighted by a 10-kill outing by Sara Dees. While teammate Lillie Davis handed out 28 assist to lead the way for the Avenging Angels, the combination of 20 digs by Hannah Jo Jablonski and three solo blocks from Lauren Bissette, kept the Salem offense in check with a .172 attack percentage and 27 kills.

The tandem of Lopez and Eckenroth led the way offensively, while first year Adalyn Raney added three kills. Fellow rookie Jolina Bun was active on defense with eight digs, while Ashlyn Wood added 10 assists and six digs.

Head-to-Head Series vs. Meredith