Opponent:
Salem at Brevard | October 17 | Brevard, N.C. | Boshamer Gym | 6:00 p.m.

THREE MATCHES AHEAD THIS WEEK FOR SALEM SPIKERS
The Spirits open their week with a clash against Brevard on Tuesday evening at Boshamer Gym, before returning home to face N.C. Wesleyan and Carolina University in a tri-match at Varsity Gym on Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem.

BATTLE FOR SIXTH IN BOSHAMER
Tuesday night's clash at Boshamer Gym will have a significant impact on the USA South Conference standings when the sixth-placed Spirits head to seventh-placed Brevard. Salem is 6-6 in league action this season, while Brevard is 5-6 against fellow USA South Conference opposition.

The Spirits are looking to keep pace with fifth-placed Southern Virginia, which is 6-5, while the Tornados are looking to move to .500 on the slate and place themselves in a sixth-place tie with Salem.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE SPIRITS
Ella Brameus completed her return to the starting lineup for Salem by coming through with nine digs, two kills and two service aces. However, Greensboro's Payton Shiflet drove home a match-high 12 kills, as The Pride captured a three-set (25-20, 25-17, 25-18) victory over Salem in a USA South Conference clash on Thursday evening.

Brameus was joined among Salem leaders by Valeria Rosa Lopez and Aspen Bradley, who tallied six and five kills, respectively. While Brameus led the way for the back row, the Spirits also received eight digs from Jolina Bun and another six from Lopez. Lopez is now 41 digs from tying Zy Henderson for second-most (1,273) in program history.

Shiflet was joined in double-digit kills by the duo of Krista Brantley (11) and Taylor Cotie (10), while Jaylyn Templeton handed out 34 assists. Morgan Mayfield anchored the defensive efforts with 17 digs, while Jade Vrobel added 11.

TRACKING LOPEZ'S MOVE UP THE STATISTICAL CHARTS
In 2023, Salem senior outside hitter Valeria Rosa Lopez joined Taylor Moulton as the only two players in program history to rank inside both all-time kills and digs in Spirits' volleyball history.

Lopez ranks third in kills (902) as she looks to join Moulton and Kylie Taffer as the only three players in Spirits history with 1,000 kills in a career. Lopez needs 92 kills to reach that milestone.

She has also climbed the career digs list, moving into third with 1,232 in her Salem career. Lopez entered the season fifth in all-time digs with 983 to her credit, trailing Hannah Delcamp (994) and Mariah Sharon (998) for fourth and third, respectively.

After surging past both Delcamp and Sharon on the all-time digs list, the Ponce, Puerto Rico, native now sits exactly 41 digs from tying Zy Henderson (2012-14) in digs with 1,273. Moulton owns the program mark with 1,369.

WOOD HAS SIGHTS SET ON MAHER
Salem setter Ashlyn Wood, who became the fourth setter in program history in program history to reach 1,000 assists in her career against N.C. Wesleyan on September 23rd, is looking to move into the Top-3 in all-time assists by season's end.

Wood enters the week with 1,124 assists, needs just 268 assists to equal Sara Maher for third in program history.

Wood has amassed 439 assists through the first 22 matches of the season, averaging 5.63 assists per set along the way. Last season, in her first year, Wood tallied 685 assists (5.91 assists/set).

WIN SECURES .500 SEASON FOR SALEM
A victory on Tuesday night against Brevard would secure at least a .500 season for the Spirits. That would mark the fourth time in program history that Salem has had at least a .500 season and the first time that the Spirits would have at least a .500 record or better in back-to-back seasons.

The first .500 campaign came in 2012, when Dana Wall's unit capped off the slate with a 14-14 mark. It would take five more years before Salem had its first winning season (21-12), which came under the direction of Kevin Troup.

Current Salem head coach Barry Rymer led the team to a 21-10 mark in 2022, resulting in the best winning percentage season in program history. With a win over Brevard, Rymer's team would have at least 15 wins in 2023 and follow up a 21-win season with at least a .500 mark the following year—a program first.

BREAKING DOWN THE SPIRITS STATISTICALLY
Senior Valeria Rosa Lopez has made her impact felt on the Salem offense throughout the course of the season, leading the team in overall kills (247) and kills versus conference opposition (139) in the process. Lopez is averaging 3.17 kills per set against all opponents, ramping it up to 3.31 kills/set against league opponents.

Lopez is one of four players to reach 100 kills on the season for the Spirits, along with Aspen Bradley (189), Anna Rymer (175) and Abrielle Eckenroth (120). That quartet has led Salem to 934 team kills (11.97 kills/set) along with a .204 attack percentage.

Meanwhile, in 12 USA South Conference matches, only Lopez and Bradley, who has 106 kills (2.52 kills/set) have eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. Salem has accrued 495 kills (11.79 kills/set) and is responsible for a .194 attack percentage when facing other league opponents.

Lopez has also led the way in digs (249 / 3.19 digs/set) for Salem this season, while first-year Jolina Bun has been active with 232 digs (3.09 digs/set) on the back row. The pair is also 1-2 against league opposition with Lopez delivering 121 digs to Bun's 117.

The same is true for Anna Rymer and Aspen Bradley on the Salem front row. Rymer leads the team with 18 solo blocks on the campaign, 14 against USA South opponents, while Bradley has 17 on the season (13 vs. USA South opposition).

SPIRITS SEEK SECOND STRAIGHT SEASON SWEEP OF BREVARD
Salem is seeking its second straight season sweep of the Tornados when the two teams clash in Western North Carolina on Tuesday evening.

Last season, the Spirits earned a five-set victory (23-25,21-25,25-20,25-16,15-13) in a clash at Boshamer Gym on October 4, 2022. The triumph by Salem not only marked the second five-set match in the head-to-head series, but also the second win by the Spirits between the two.

Brevard traveled to Winston-Salem, N.C., 23 days later, but the Spirits posted a three-set win (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) to complete the season sweep of the series.

Earlier this season, Salem ran its winning streak to four against the Tornados with a four-set win at Varsity Gym. The offensive trio of Valeria Rosa Lopez (15 kills), Aspen Bradley (13) and Anna Rymer (13) helped the Spirits amass 60 kills, while Lopez (21 digs), Jolina Bun (12) and Victoria Stratmann (11) anchored the defense.

TORNADOS IN OCTOBER
Brevard is 3-2 in October, earning a five-set win to open the month against Greensboro, along with back-to-back sweeps over Warren Wilson and Mary Baldwin on October 10th and 14th, respectively.

Brevard split its weekend tri-match, which featured Mary Baldwin and Methodist, by suffering a 3-1 setback to Methodist on Saturday afternoon in Staunton, Va.

Makenna Parkins' 178 kills lead the way for the Tornados, while teammates Ashley Hoxit (158) and Kaitlyn Pressley (132) have also topped the triple-digit kill mark. Both Lauren Priddy and Pressley, who have 277 and 213 assists, respectively, have played a key role in Brevard's offense accounting for 658 kills (9.82 kills/set) this season.

Bailey Lance has been a cog in the back row for Brevard with a team-high 320 digs, while Kendall Rockstad (15 solo blocks), Jaxson Tumicki (14) and Parkins (14) have helped the Tornados amass 52 solo blocks on the campaign.

Head-to-Head Series vs. Brevard