WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After a six-day layoff the Salem tennis team returns to the courts for a pair of weekend clashes with USA South rivals Pfeiffer (Friday) and Greensboro (Saturday). Both matches are set for 2 p.m.

ANALYZING THE SPIRITS: Salem is 0-5 on the slate and 0-3 in USA South heading into the weekend. The Spirits have earned five singles wins and claimed one doubles victory in their first five matches.

Alyson Gammons has two singles wins, one coming as the No. 4 seed and one as No. 5 seed, to lead all singles players. The combination of Alyssa Cosentino, Haley Gilley and Zakeria Pomeroy all have one singles win each for Salem.

The only doubles victory came from the pair of Gilley and McKinley Rice, who are 1-3 overall as a No. 1 seed.

PREVIEWING PFEIFFER: The Spirits make their second trip to Meisenheimer, N.C., this season after participating in the Pfeiffer Invitational on September 26th.

Pfeiffer (7-5, 3-1 USA South) has won four of its last five matches since March 10th. The lone setback in that stretch (9-0) came against Methodist on March 30th. The victories came against Albion (9-0), N.C. Wesleyan (6-3) on March 10th and 26th, respectively. The last two triumphs came over Meredith (7-2) and Mary Baldwin (9-0).

The Falcons have three individuals to claim at least seven singles wins, including Alison Sloop, Elithe Hudson and Brittany Mills. Teammates Darby Sherrill and Megan Rekieta have posted six singles victories each.

The tandem of Hudson and Sloop are responsible for the most doubles wins on the season with seven. Five of them have come as the No. 2 seed.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PFEIFFER
(Pfeiffer leads series 3-0)

PREVIEWING THE PRIDE: Greensboro will play two matches on Saturday, pairing with Johnson University (Fla.) at 10 a.m. Then Salem will clash with The Pride at 2 p.m. with both matches taking place at the Greensboro Day School tennis courts.

Greensboro is 0-5 on the season and has been held without a win in any of their matches. The Pride opened the season against Meredith, suffering 9-0 setbacks to the Avenging Angels, Mary Baldwin (March 30), Averett (April 2) and Southern Virginia (April 6). Greensboro also lost a 6-0 decision to William Peace on March 26th.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS GREENSBORO
(Salem leads series 7-5)

LAST OUTING (vs. Methodist): Methodist capped off its ninth win in a 10-match stretch by handing Salem a 9-0 setback in USA South tennis action at Bert Lain Tennis Center in Winston-Salem on Saturday, April 2nd.

The Monarchs (10-5, 4-0 USA South) grabbed the first point of the match by default from the pairing of Megan Kidd and Alex Pratt. The No. 1 doubles pair of Abby Caddick and Kamdyn Balko earned an 8-0 victory against Alyssa Cosentino and McKinley Rice, providing Methodist with a point as well.

The tandem of Toni Laney and Veva Willocks were also responsible for a Methodist win, defeating fellow No. 2 pair of Haley Gilley and Natasha Guo by an 8-1 margin.

Balko received a default point as the No. 5 singles for Methodist, as did sixth-seeded teammate Alex Pratt. Caddick earned the No. 1 singles point for Methodist by virtue of a 6-1, 6-0 win over Gilley.

Laney posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Rice, who played at No. 2 singles for the Spirits (0-5, 0-3 USA South). Kidd served as the No. 3 seed in singles action for Methodist, coming through with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Cosentino. Willocks helped complete the sweep for the Monarchs, as the No. 4 singles player on the afternoon, taking down Guo by scores of 6-0, 6-0 in her collegiate tennis debut.