Next Match: vs. Hollins | March 4 | Bert Lain Tennis Ctr. | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 3 p.m.

TENNIS MAKES RETURN AFTER BRIEF FALL SLATE
Salem wrapped up its fall competition with a trio of matches during a two-day stretch of September where the Spirits faced Patrick Henry Community College, Pfeiffer and Randolph.

The fall slate began with an 8-1 victory against Patrick Henry on September 17th and later that day clashed with Pfeiffer in a non-conference tilt.

When facing Patrick Henry, the Spirits claimed five of their eight points by virtue of default victories. In the clash with Pfeiffer, Salem earned one of its four victories in No. 3 doubles, which came from the team of Harley Hedrick and Alana Bridges. The remaining three points came in singles play from No. 3 Haley Gilley, No. 4 McKinley Rice and the fifth-seeded Bridges.

LOOKING TO CONTINUE MOMENTUM FROM A SEASON AGO
After enduring one of the toughest 18-month stretches in the history of Salem Athletics, which came after a campus-wide move to conduct remote classes and cancel all athletic events during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salem tennis team provided the entire Department of Athletics with a momentum lift heading into the 2022-23 season.

Like his coaching counterparts, Salem tennis coach Ed Steele's endured a difficult beginning to the season with six consecutive setbacks, including a trio of 9-0 USA South Conference losses to Southern Virginia, Methodist and Pfeiffer. However, the Spirits quickly flipped the switch to a more positive outcome and captured a 9-0 win over Greensboro on April 9, 2022. Four days later, Salem claimed a 5-4 win over William Peace which was followed by a tough 9-0 setback to Meredith on April 14th.

With a 2-7 overall mark, Salem was credited by the league office with a win over N.C. Wesleyan by virtue of an overscheduling mishap by the Battling Bishops. The Spirits regained their earlier playing form, picking up a 9-0 non-conference win over Johnson & Wales on April 22nd, before running their winning streak to four straight with back-to-back 6-3 wins at Mary Baldwin and Hollins to complete the schedule.

Salem's four-match winning streak (third-longest in program history) to conclude the 2021-22 campaign is the longest since the Spirits put together a seven-match streak from April 5-April 26, 2014. The second-longest streak in program history spanned from February 23-March 17, 2011. Furthermore, Steele coached the Spirits to four wins in USA South Conference play, tying the most league wins in program history with the 2013-14 team, coached by Kevin Fleck, along with his own mark, which he established in 2017-18.

ANALYZING THE 2022-23 ROSTER FOR TENNIS
Ed Steele was able to parlay the success at the end of the 2021-22 season into additional quality student-athletes over the course of the offseason. Two of those additions came in the form of junior's Alana Bridges and Emily Griffis. The seventh-year coach also added three first year players to give the Spirits a bright future, which came in the additions of Cadence Durham, Harley Hedrick and Abrielle Eckenroth, who is also a member of the volleyball team.

The Spirits will also return three familiar faces to the roster from 2022—Alyson Gammons, Haley Gilley and Ashley Linden. Gammons, who joined the team after competing in soccer a year ago, picked up five wins, including four as Salem's No. 4 seed.

Gilley capped off a solid season as the Spirits' No. 1 singles player, earning four wins along the way, including two in USA South Conference action in 2022. Gilley, who has the sixth-most wins as a No. 1 singles player in program history, will be looked at as both a mentor for her younger teammates as well as a key to overall team success with her experience as a No. 1 seed.

Linden, who is a two-sport athlete like Gammons and Eckenroth on Steele's roster, made her impact felt on the 2022 roster immediately. She grabbed two wins in No. 5 singles and one in No. 6 singles, while also competing in one match as a No. 4 seed for Salem. In total, Linden took part in six singles matches for the Spirits, after joining the team for the 2022 spring season, finishing 3-3 in singles on the slate.

As a result of the close of the 2022 spring slate, coupled with Salem's offseason additions, the Spirits were predicted seventh in the 2023 USA South Coaches Preseason Poll.

SALEM OPENS 2023 SPRING SEASON VERSUS HOLLINS
Saturday's match marks the sixth all-time meeting between the Spirits and Hollins. Salem has a 4-1 lead in the head-to-head series, winning the first three meetings between September 29, 2018 and October 5, 2019. Two of those wins, which came during the 2019 calendar year on March 17 and October 5, came in 7-2 fashion for Salem. The other, which marked the inaugural meeting on September 29th, went to Salem by a 9-0 margin.

After Hollins claimed a 7-2 win on February 26, 2022 in Winston-Salem, the Spirits retaliated to earn a 6-3 victory on April 23rd.

HOLLINS OPENS SPRING SEASON AT SALEM
Hollins, like Salem had an abbreviated fall slate, facing both Randolph-Macon and Meredith on September 24th.

Hollins suffered a 7-2 setback in the first match of the season against Randolph-Macon, but bounced back to take down the Avenging Angels by the very same margin later that afternoon.

Hollins, which was picked to finish 12th in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, is under the direction of first-year coach Daniel Ragsdale. Ragsdale took over the program on August 16, 2022, after serving as the head coach at Roanoke College for seven seasons.