Salem at William Peace | October 11 | Hermann Athletic Center | 7 p.m.
Salem at Greensboro | October 12 | Hanes Gym | 7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Senior Valeria Rosa Lopez, who finished off a USA South Conference tri-match with two double-doubles, played an integral role in leading the Salem volleyball team to a five-set victory over Meredith (25-19, 25-17, 14-25, 22-25, 15-11) before coming through with a four-set win against Pfeiffer (20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19) as the Spirits improved to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in league play.

Lopez notched her ninth double-double of the slate in Salem's second-ever program victory over Meredith. She came through with 18 kills, 18 digs and posted a .293 attack percentage. Joining Lopez among kills leaders were Aspen Bradley (15), who finished with a .294 attack percentage, and Brooklyn Snow, who posted 11 kills and a .333 attack percentage.

Lopez led all back row defenders with 18 digs against the Avenging Angels, while Ella Brameus added 14 and Ashlyn Wood tallied 14 digs to go along with a team-high 27 assists.

In the nightcap, Lopez drove home a match-high 15 kills, finishing off a .323 attack percentage after committing just five miscues along the way. She was again joined among kill leaders by Snow, who posted 14 kills and a .323 attack percentage, as well as Bradley, who tallied 10 kills in 22 attempts and finished with a .364 attack percentage.

Wood led the offensive attack with 21 assist, while Ashlee Peek handed out 17 assists in an offense that finished with a .274 attack percentage. Lopez led the back row with 15 digs, while Macy Nelson came through with nine. Brameus narrowly missed a double-double outing with nine digs and nine assists for the Spirits.

Anna Rymer tallied three assisted blocks, while Lopez and Snow finished with two, giving Salem eight in the match.

WEEKEND TIDBITS
With two victories at Varsity Gym on Saturday afternoon, the Salem volleyball team now has a 5-2 mark at home this season. It is the eighth time in program history that the Spirits have at least five home wins and first since the 2019 season, when Salem closed 5-2 at home.

The weekend also brought the second-ever victory against Meredith in program history. The Avenging Angels entered the weekend with a 14-1 mark all-time against Salem, but the Spirits snapped a six-match losing streak that dated back to October 23, 2018.

The five-set victory on Saturday was the first of its kind in the head-to-head matchup with Meredith, who had won in three sets in five of the last six meetings and 11 of the 15 times in the series. The only other victory for the Spirits against Meredith also came at home on October 20, 2017.

HISTORICAL START
By virtue of the three-match winning streak, the 2022 Salem volleyball team has put together the second-best start through 17 matches (12-5) in program history. The only start that is better, came by the 2017 unit, which was 13-4 at the same point.

The 2017 squad would go onto establish the best single-season record (21-12) in school history, the benchmark for home wins (10), road wins (six) and amass eight USA South Conference wins along the way. After starting the season 7-4, the 2017 team had a season-long six-match winning streak that moved the mark to 13-4, resulting in the best start ever.

TURNING THE THING AROUND
Salem head coach Barry Rymer has guided his team to 12 wins this season, marking the ninth time in program history that the Spirits have won double figure matches in a season. Rymer has matched former coach Kevin Troup, who served as the head coach of the Spirits from 2015-17, as the only head coach in program history to win at least nine matches from the season before.

With a 5-2 mark in USA South Conference play, Rymer becomes the sixth different Salem coach to guide the Spirits to at least five wins in league action in a season in school history.

MOST USA SOUTH CONFERENCE WINS IN A SINGLE-SEASON

DEFENDING THE HOME TURF
The Spirits are 3-2 at Varsity Gym this season and are looking to win back-to-back matches for the first time since defeating Johnson & Wales (3-0) and Ferrum (3-0) in early September. Salem's last home match came on September 29th against Southern Virginia, with the Knights emerging in four sets.

ANALYZING THE PACERS
William Peace, who owns a 20-4 mark in the all-time series against the Spirits, enters Tuesday's match with an 18-4 overall record and 8-0 mark in USA South play. The Pacers completed a weekend tri-match at Mary Baldwin by posting a 3-1 victory over the Fighting Squirrels and a 3-0 triumph against Greensboro.

Shelby Cooper leads all William Peace hitters with 243 kills (3.47 kills/set) and is one of five Pacers with at least 100 kills on the season. Teammate Hannah Collier is second with 173 kills and Georgia Grace Anderson rounds out the Top-3 with 157 kills. Mackenzie Russell has quarterbacked the Pacer offense, which has 962 kills (13.18 kills/set) and a .239 attack percentage, with a team-high 705 assists.

Defensively, William Peace is led on the back row by Logan Moore (256 digs) and Russell (234). Meanwhile, Landia Limon has stonewalled opposing hitters with a team-high 54 total blocks (24 solo), as has Anderson with 45 total blocks (33 assisted blocks).

ANALYZING THE PRIDE
On Wednesday, when Salem heads to Greensboro for its clash with The Pride, it will mark the second time this season that the two have met. Greensboro improved its lead in the all-time series to 19-7 with a 3-1 victory over the Spirits on September 21st and has been 6-3 since that point, resulting in a 12-10 overall mark and 6-3 in USA South action.

Six Greensboro players have at least 100 kills on the season, including Payton Shiflet, who leads the way with 198 kills (4.13 kills/set). Shiflet is followed closely by Taylor Cotie (156) and Kelci Brooks (145) among kill leaders for The Pride. Jaylyn Templeton has distributed 637 assists over the course of the season for a Greensboro offense that is averaging 15.08 kills/set and a .168 attack percentage.

On defense, Greensboro is led in the back row by Lauren Mantel and Templeton, who have 296 and 225 digs, respectively. Cotie, with 62 total blocks (16 solo), and teammate Jade Vrobel (38 total blocks) have anchored the front row for The Pride.

SPIRITS' STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Salem enters the week third in the USA South Conference standings with a 5-2 mark against league opposition. The Spirits are bested by only William Peace (8-0 / 1.000) and Southern Virginia (8-1 / .889) in the league standings.

One of the key reasons for Salem's success this season is the improvement on offense. Through the first 17 matches, three individuals lead the team in kills. Aspen Bradley is first with 198 kills (3.05 kills/set), posting a .348 attack percentage along the way. Valeria Rosa Lopez, who has topped double-digit kills in three of her last four matches, leapfrogged Anna Rymer for second with 165 kills (2.66 kills/set). Rymer is third on the unit with 160 slams at an average of 2.46 kills/set, posting a .297 attack percentage, third-best, along the way.

Salem's offense has recorded 834 kills (12.64 kills/set) due in large part to the success of setters Ashlyn Wood (381 assists) and Ashlee Peek (235). Wood, who is averaging 5.86 assists/set, has also made her presence felt on the back row with 116 digs and in the service game with 26 aces, third-most on the team.

The other key to Salem's success on the court has been an improved defensive attack. The back row of Ella Brameus (230 digs), Lopez (197) and Macy Nelson (192) have played a key role in limiting opposing offenses to a .160 attack percentage.

Meanwhile, the front row has amassed 42 solo blocks, 94 assisted blocks and 89 total blocks. The duo of Rymer and Bradley, who share the team-lead with 16 solo blocks, are separated by just eight total blocks. Rymer leads the team in overall blocks (43) with Bradley second (35) and Abrielle Eckenroth third with 16 (14 assisted). Brooklyn Snow (14 total blocks) and Lopez (12) round out the Top-5 blockers for the Spirits.