Opponent:
Salem vs. Brevard | September 19 | Varsity Gym | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 6 p.m.

LOOKING BACK AT TRI-MATCH IN RALEIGH
Valeria Rosa Lopez capped off an impressive hitting display against William Peace and 21st-ranked Mary Washington with a combined 34 kills, eight errors and a .347 attack percentage, while contributing 18 digs in a tri-match on Saturday, September 16th in Raleigh, N.C.

Lopez opened the afternoon by amassing a single-match season-high 19 kills (.341 attack pct.), 10 digs and two service aces in a four-set match against USA South Conference foe William Peace. She followed that with a 15-kill, eight-dig performance against Mary Washington, where she committed just four errors en route to a .355 attack percentage.

Aspen Bradley also had a solid outing against William Peace, driving home nine kills in an error-free performance as she posted a .391 attack percentage. Teammates Anna Rymer and Abrielle Eckenroth were also key for Salem against the Pacers, notching eight and seven kills, respectively. Ashlyn Wood contributed a team-best 16 digs, while Rymer came through with 13. Victoria Stratmann reached double-digit digs with a single-match season-high 10 digs for the Spirits.

Salem, playing against its third ranked opponent in program history, was led by Lopez in kills with 15. The trio of Rymer, Eckenroth and Stratmann tallied four apiece for the Spirits. Wood dished out a team-best 18 assists, while adding six digs for the Spirits. Lopez led the back row with eight digs while Eckenroth contributed seven digs.

SALEM HOSTING FIRST HOME MATCH OF THE SEASON
Salem enters Tuesday's match with a 7-6 mark all-time in home openers, claiming its last win in a home opener a season ago against Johnson & Wales. The Spirits earned a 3-0 victory by scores of 25-9, 25-10, 25-15 in that contest.

The last time that the Spirits opened the home portion of their schedule with home wins in consecutive seasons came in 2018 and 2019. The 2018 victory came after a five-set battle against Averett, with the Spirits posting a 26-24,29-27,25-27,21-25,15-10 victory over the Cougars. In 2019, Salem took down Carolina University in a home opener on September 17th, posting a 25-27,25-18,25-17,25-20 win.

AFTER A DOZEN MATCHES, HOW THE TEAM STACKS UP
Through the first 12 matches of the season, Salem is 7-5 overall and 0-3 against league opposition as a team, but individually the Spirits have a number of statistical leaders.

Senior Valeria Rosa Lopez leads all Salem hitters with 131 kills at a pace of 3.12 kills/set, followed by Anna Rymer (91 kills / 2.17 kills/set) and Aspen Bradley (84 kills / 2.00 kills/set). That trio has helped the Spirits amass 473 total kills (11.26 kills/set) as a unit in 2023.

Lopez also tops the digs category for Salem with 137 (3.26 digs/set), nine more than first-year teammate Jolina Bun. Bun is second on the unit in digs with 136, averaging 3.07 digs/set. Ashlyn Wood is third on the team with 110 digs (2.62 digs/set) while topping the Spirits with 249 assists.

Bun leads the way for the Spirits' service game with 24 aces, seven more than Rymer and nine more than Lopez. Rymer does lead the way in total blocks (23) due in large part to five solo blocks, a team-high she shares with Bradley.

Lopez enters the week with 792 kills in her career, eight shy of becoming the fourth player in program history with 800 kills. That trio currently includes Taylor Moulton (1,106 career kills), Kylie Taffer (1.059) and Madelyn Chappell (841).

Lopez's 1,120 digs are third-most all-time behind Moulton (1,369) and Zy Henderson (1,273), who are first and second, respectively.

SALEM WHEN FACING THE TORNADOS
The Spirits are 3-1 all-time in clashes with Brevard after posting two victories in 2022. Salem posted a 3-2 victory in the first meeting (23-25,21-25,25-20,25-16,15-13) before coming through with a 25-18,25-23,25-19 in the second match between the two USA South Conference programs.

The Tornados enter Tuesday's clash with a 3-5 mark on the season and a 1-1 record in league action. Brevard is 1-1 away from home and 1-2 in neutral site matches. Brevard split a tri-match on Saturday, September 16th, posting a 3-0 victory over Mary Baldwin in the first match before falling to Methodist in 3-0 fashion in the afternoon session.

Makenna Perkins (67 kills) and Kaitlyn Pressley (60) lead the Tornados on offense, while Ashley Hoxit is third with 56 kills. Teammate Logan Priddy anchors the Tornados with 111 assists, while Pressley is second with 92 on the season.

Defensively, Lance Bailey leads the back row for the Tornados with 133 (4.59 digs/set), while Jaxson Turnicki tops the unit in total blocks (19), with 14 assisted blocks and five solo to her credit.

Head-to-Head Series vs. Brevard