Opponent:
Salem vs. Southern Virginia | November 1 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 6:00 p.m.

SPIRITS SEEKING 10th VICTORY IN LEAGUE PLAY
Salem is looking to join five other programs in the USA South with 10 league wins in 2023. Meredith leads the way with 14 conference wins, while Greensboro is second with 13. The trio of Methodist, Southern Virginia and William Peace all have 10 league victories in 2023.

The Spirits have reached the double-digit win total in league play on three occasions, all as a member of the USA South Conference. Those double-digit league win seasons came in 2018 (10), 2019 (10) and 2022 (12).

MORE ON THE CONFERENCE STANDINGS
Salem enters its third clash of the season with Southern Virginia, second conference match, in sixth in the USA South Conference standings. The Spirits, with a victory, would move into a fifth-place tie with Southern Virginia, who would fall to 10-7 with the setback. The Spirits have two league contests remaining on the schedule—Southern Virginia and Mary Baldwin—along with a non-conference clash against Roanoke. All three remaining regular season matches are at Varsity Gym.

SALEM TAKES TWO MATCHES IN MISENHEIMER
Anna Rymer emphatically left her mark on two Salem victories at the conclusion of Saturday afternoon's tri-match at Pfeiffer, combining for 36 kills and a .403 attack percentage, as the Spirits earned a four-set win over the host Falcons (25-23, 27-25, 24-26, 25-14) and a come-from-behind five-set triumph (13-25, 27-29, 25-23, 25-18, 17-15) over Bob Jones, which moved the Spirits to 19-9 overall on the season.

The China Grove, N.C., native wrapped up the four-set victory over USA South Conference foe Pfeiffer, with 19 kills and a .515 attack percentage for Salem. Salem combined for 61 kills, which set a program record for four-set affairs, and a .314 attack percentage with Rymer leading the way in total kills. She was joined offensively by the trio Aspen Bradley (12), Abrielle Eckenroth (11) and Valeria Rosa Lopez (11). The offense was quarterbacked by Ashlyn Wood and Jolina Bun, who handed out 29 and 19 assists, respectively.

McKenzie Tullock stepped in for Macy Nelson, who missed the match due to illness, and delivered nine digs. Teammates Victoria Stratmann (eight), Lopez (seven) and Wood (seven) were also among the dig leaders.

Rymer was one of three Spirits to slam home double-digit kills against Bob Jones, delivering 17 as part of a .308 hitting percentage as she committed just five errors in the match. She was joined up front by Bradley, who added 12 kills, and Lopez, who came through with 11.

McKenzie Tullock led the back row, contributing a team-high 19 digs, while Lopez added 13 and Wood coming through with 14 on the contest. Wood capped off a double-double performance with 26 assists as Salem combined for 61 kills and a .201 attack percentage against the Bruins. The Spirits have now won five of their last six matches with the lone setback coming to Methodist on October 24th.

LOPEZ MAKING STRIDES FOR 1,000-KILL CLUB
Currently there are two members of the Salem volleyball 1,000-kill club—Taylor Moulton and Kylie Taffer.

However, senior outside hitter Valeria Rosa Lopez is making a strong push to become the third. Lopez, who has 967 career kills to her credit, needs just 33 to become the third member of the group.

In 28 matches this season, Lopez has tallied a team-high 306 kills (3.09 kills/set), making 833 total attempts along the way. If Lopez can notch 33 more kills and reach the 1,000-kill plateau it would not only move her into third-place on the program's all-time kills list, but it would also mark the second-most in a single season in program history. Currently, the two leaders in single-season kills in program history are Aspen Bradley (351) and Kylie Taffer (330).

The Ponce, Puerto Rico, native moved into second in career digs at Salem in a clash against Methodist on September 24th. In her third dig of the match, Lopez passed Zy Henderson for the second-most digs in program history.

Lopez and Henderson are two of three Spirits with at least 1,000 career digs, along with the program leader in the category—Taylor Moulton (1,369).

Lopez, who leads the unit in digs this season with 317, has 1,300 over the course of her Salem career. She entered the season with 983 digs to her credit, which placed her fifth in program history. Since September 1st, she has passed both Hannah Delcamp (994-4th), Mariah Sharon (998-3rd) and Henderson along the way.

Valeria Rosa Lopez on Career Records Lists (Kills / Digs)

SIZEMORE SLAMS SEVEN IN SALEM TRIUMPH
Senior outside hitter Nikita Sizemore, who saw action in her fifth match of the season on Saturday, slammed home seven of Salem's 43 total kills in the sweep of Carolina University.

With her seven-kill performance, which came in 10 total attacks, Sizemore set the single-match season-high for the Spirits in attack percentage with a .700. Along with her seven kills, Sizemore was also active on defense with four digs and a pair of assisted blocks.

Sizemore topped the previous single-match season-high for the Spirits in attack percentage, which was set by Anna Rymer, who delivered six kills in 10 attacks against Thiel in the second match of the season.

RYMER HAS IMPRESSIVE WEEK, LEADING SPIRITS TO TWO WINS
Junior middle blocker Anna Rymer wrapped up an impressive three-match stint against Methodist, Pfeiffer and Bob Jones a week ago.

Rymer closed out the week 50 kills (4.17 kills/set) along with a .408 attack percentage after limiting herself to 10 miscues along the way. Rymer delivered three service aces, made seven digs and was active on the front row defense with seven blocks, all assisted.

Rymer tallied double-digit kills in all three matches, opening with 14 kills in a three-set clash with Methodist. Against the Monarchs, she tallied a .423 attack percentage and was active defensively in the back row with five digs.

On Saturday, in first match of a tri-match at Pfeiffer, she came through with best kill performance of the week (19) while posting a .515 attack percentage versus the Falcons. She also stifled the Pfeiffer defense with three service aces and turned back two blocks on the front row.

In Rymer's final match she played a key role in helping the Spirits earn a come-from-behind victory over Bob Jones, delivering 17 kills and a .308 attack percentage. She also made five assisted blocks along the way, playing a key role in Salem's win over the Bruins.

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA, SALEM CLASH FOR THIRD TIME IN 2023 REGULAR SEASON
Salem and Southern Virginia will meet for the ninth-time in program history on Wednesday evening. The two teams have met three times this season, including a non-conference bout to open the 2023 campaign at the Virginia Wesleyan Tournament in Virginia Beach, Va.

It will mark the second time in as many seasons that the two teams clashed three times in the same campaign. In 2022, Salem and Southern Virginia met twice in the regular season before the Knights put the finishing touches on Salem's season with a sweep of the Spirits in the semifinals of the USA South Conference tournament.

SVU-Salem Recap (Sept. 2): Salem's well-balanced attack in the four-set win over Southern Virginia resulted in the program's first-ever triumph over the Knights. Aspen Bradley led all hitters with nine kills and a .208 attack percentage, while the Valeria Rosa Lopez, Ella Brameus and Anna Rymer tallied six kills apiece. Rymer led all hitters with a .286 attack percentage.

Defensively, first year Jolina Bun highlighted the back row with 17 digs, adding three service aces, with Lopez contributing 14 digs. Ashlyn Wood spearheaded the Salem offense with 19 assists, resulting in 38 total kills.

SVU-Salem Recap (Oct. 5): Sophomore Aspen Bradley drove home 10 kills, while Valeria Rosa Lopez added six and Abrielle Eckenroth delivered five, but it Southern Virginia that earned the victory (25-23, 25-15, 27-25) over Salem when the two teams clashed in USA South Conference action on Thursday evening in Buena Vista, Va. The setback halts a six-match winning streak for Salem, which tied the longest in program history.

Bradley, who reached double-digit kills for the fourth time in the last five matches, led the way for a Salem unit that tallied 32 total kills. Lopez struggled to find her rhythm, committing 11 errors in the clash, while Eckenroth committed just one miscue in 15 total attacks to finish with a .267 attack percentage.

Jolina Bun led the Salem backrow with 18 digs, while Anna Rymer handed out 15 assists and Ashlyn Wood chipped in 11 assists along with six digs.

All-Time Series vs. Southern Virginia