Site: Winston-Salem, N.C.

Score: Salem 3, Meredith 2 (25-17, 19-25, 27-25, 20-25, 15-4)

Records: Salem (21-9) / Meredith (20-12)

Up Next:
Salem vs. Southern Virginia—USA South Conference Tournament Second Round (Thursday, November 3rd)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — 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 Ashlee 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.

FIRST SET RECAP
Salem capped off the first set with 15 kills and a .293 attack percentage and grabbed the early lead in the match with an eight-point victory. Separated by just one point, 12-11, Bradley delivered two kills to give the Spirits a lead they would not relinquish. Brameus added a service ace and Lopez came through with a pair of kills as the Spirits grabbed a 19-11 lead. Lopez added two more kills after Meredith trimmed the deficit to eight, 20-12, to make for a 23-16 contest. Rymer hammered home the final two points for Salem, resulting in the win.

SECOND SET RECAP
The Avenging Angels bounced back with a 16-kill second set, which resulted in a .424 attack percentage and a six-point win. After nine ties, which brought the set to a 10-all deadlock, Meredith used a kill from Lauren Bissette to eventually move in front 14-12. Timely kills from Bissette and Kenzie Moore helped Meredith to stretch its lead to 20-15. With Salem unable to pull the lead to under three down the stretch, the Avenging Angels clinched the match by six.

THIRD SET RECAP
Salem regained its focus in the third, storming out to a 9-4 lead following a kill from Snow. The Avenging Angels rallied, slicing the margin to 13-11, on a series of unforced errors by Salem. A series of kills from Eckenroth, Snow and Brameus would push Salem in front 19-17, forcing a Meredith timeout. Bissette delivered two kills, knotting the set at 23, and later delivering a kill to even the score at 25 as the two teams continued to battle. A block by Snow and Rymer gave Salem a 26-25 lead before Bradley drove home the game-winner with a slam on a pass from Peek.

FOURTH SET RECAP
Facing elimination without a fourth set victory, Meredith responded by jumping out to a 10-3 lead early in the set. Salem managed to slice that deficit to two, 10-8, following a Rymer kill, but the Avenging Angels capitalized on kills from Bissette and a service ace by Hannah Jo Jablonski to make for an 18-11 contest. Eckenroth, Bradley and Brameus each converted kills for Salem, trimming the margin to 20-17, but Meredith held off the surge for force the fifth set.

SALEM NOTES
-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.