Site: Greensboro, N.C.

Score: Greensboro 3, Salem 1 (20-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-16)

Records: Salem (13-6, 6-3 USA South) / Greensboro (13-10, 7-3 USA South)

Up Next: Salem vs. Mary Baldwin (Oct. 15 / 2 p.m.) / Salem at Methodist (Oct. 15 / 4 p.m.)

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Payton Shiflet came through with a match-high 22 kills, posting a .362 attack percentage in the process, to lead Greensboro to a four-set victory over Salem when the two teams collided in USA South Conference action at Hanes Gymnasium on Wednesday, October 12th.

Aspen Bradley was the primary source of offense for the Spirits, emerging with 11 kills and a .333 attack percentage, while Valeria Rosa Lopez closed with nine. The pair of Ella Brameus and Abrielle Eckenroth came through with eight kills apiece, while Ashlyn Wood dished out a team-high 21 assists.

Salem, which saw its four-match winning streak halted in the setback, was without the defensive services of Macy Nelson. In her absence, McKenzie Tullock led the way with 18 digs, while Wood added 13 and Lopez closed with 10. Brameus also made an impact defensively with nine digs, while Anna Rymer emerged with a pair of solo blocks to highlight the front row for the Spirits.

FIRST SET RECAP
Salem opened the match with a solid offensive performance, posting 17 kills and a .233 attack percentage, while defensively the Spirits limited Greensboro to 12 kills and a .190 attack percentage. Greensboro grabbed the early lead, but a series of kills by Bradley, Lopez and Eckenroth helped make for an eight-all deadlock. With the set evened at 16, after a slam from Bradley, Salem would receive two kills from Brameus and one off the hand of Wood to force Greensboro to spend a timeout trailing 20-18. Two kills down the stretch by Bradley coupled with two unforced errors allowed the Spirits to post the five-point win.

SECOND SET RECAP
Greensboro responded defensively in the second set, while emerging with 18 kills (.275 attack percentage), to even the match at one. Separated by no more than three points in the first 26 points of the frame, the set reached a climatic 13-all deadlock after eight ties. Six ties later, with the match knotted at 24 due behind kills from Bradley and a service ace by Tullock, Kelci Brooks drove home a kill to put The Pride at set point. That was quickly followed by a block from Vrobel and Brooks, resulting in the two-point victory.

THIRD SET RECAP
The two evenly-matched units continued their back-and-forth battle in the third set with neither able to grab more than a three-point lead in the first 26 points, which came to a head with a 13-13 tie. Salem grabbed a two-point lead by virtue of a service ace and a kill by Lopez, but The Pride evened the frame at 15. Lopez converted two kills to push Salem's lead to 18-15, but a kill and a block by Abey Hancock helped Greensboro grab a 19-18 advantage. Brameus tied the set at 20 with a kill, but Greensboro received two kills from Shiflet along with blocks from Shiflet and Vrobel to earn the third set win.

FOURTH SET RECAP
The Pride finished off the final set of the match with 16 kills and a .209 attack percentage, while Salem was unable to find its offensive rhythm. Leading 5-4 early in the fourth set, Greensboro put together an 8-3 run to eclipse double figures. With Jadyn Templeton in serve, The Pride extended the lead to 18-7 with a pair of service aces. Salem reached double figures on an attack error, resulting in a 19-10 lead, but Shiflet delivered two of Greensboro's four kills down the stretch to push The Pride to the win.

Salem Notes
-Greensboro is 20-7 in the all-time series, winning the last five head-to-head matches in a streak that began with a five-set victory on November 5, 2019.
-The Pride are 9-3 all-time in Greensboro when facing Salem.
-Aspen Bradley has now recorded 15 double-digit kill performances, including five straight, dating back to 20-kill outing against Brevard on October 4th.
-McKenzie Tullock sparks the Salem back row with 18 digs, marking her second-best single-match performance in digs, when she tallied 21 against Huntingdon (Sept. 17).
-The Pride have forced Salem into its lowest hitting percentage than any other USA South Conference team. Greensboro limited the Spirits to a .143 attack percentage in first meeting (Sept. 21) and .146 at Greensboro on Wednesday, Oct. 12th.