>OPPONENTS (October 28-November 2) 
Salem vs. Southern Virginia | October 30 | 6 p.m.| Varsity Gym
Salem at William Peace | Nov. 2 | 12 p.m.| Hermann Athletic Center
Salem at Eastern Mennonite | Nov. 2 | 2 p.m.| Hermann Athletic Center

>SALEM SET TO HOST SOUTHERN VIRGINIA IN USA SOUTH CONFERENCE FIRST PLACE TILT
Salem volleyball will host Southern Virginia in a battle for first place in the USA South Conference standings on Wednesday evening. The Spirits, who are in search of their first USA South Conference regular season championship in program history, are 12-2 in league play and sit 0.09 percentage points in front of Southern Virginia in the league standings. 

The Spirits have two regular season crowns in their program history, both of which came while Salem was a member of the Great South Athletic Conference. The first was in 2013 and the second followed in 2015. 

>SPIRITS OPEN WEEK FIRST IN USA SOUTH CONFERENCE STANDINGS
Salem, which has a 12-2 record in league play, sits ahead of Southern Virginia (11-2) by just 0.09 percentage points heading into Wednesday's clash. Methodist is third in the standings at 10-3 and Greensboro is fourth with a 10-4 mark. 

>SALEM BECOMES FIRST USA SOUTH PROGRAM WITH 20 WINS
With a series of victories against Pfeiffer and Bob Jones on October 19th, Salem became the first USA South Conference program to eclipse the 20-win mark in 2024. Furthermore, the Spirits are the only current USA South Conference unit to have won 20 matches in each of the last three seasons. Two other programs, Meredith and Greensboro, also have a chance to equal that mark. Meredith is currently 13-8 overall, while Greensboro is 17-7. 

>TWO THREE-TIME USA SOUTH ROOKIE OF THE WEEK WINNERS
Salem first year setter Leah Rymer joined her classmate Maia Johnson as a three-time recipient of the USA South Rookie of the Week award when she received the honor from the conference office on Monday afternoon. 

Rymer received the distinction for the third time in October after being named as the league's top rookie on October 7th and October 14th. Johnson dominated the first full month of action by earning USA South Rookie of the Week honors on September 9th, 23rd and 30th. The two Salem first years have provided six of seven in-season awards from the USA South Conference this season. The other came from Anna Rymer, who was named Player of the Week on October 21st. 

>SPIRITS RUN HOME WINNING STREAK TO 15 STRAIGHT
A decisive three-set sweep of Meredith on October 23rd not only avenged a season-ending loss suffered to the Avenging Angels in the 2023 USA South Conference Tournament, but it also ran Salem's home court winning streak to 15 straight. 

The victory came as Aspen Bradley drove home a match-high 16 kills and Anna Rymer added 10 kills and 10 digs as the Spirits notched their first-ever sweep (25-16, 25-19, 25-20) over Meredith. 

The Spirits came through with 50 kills and a .341 attack percentage in the victory. That ties for the fourth-most kills in a three-set match in program history, alongside a 2022 performance versus N.C. Wesleyan. 

Bradley drove home 16 of those 50 kills, while committing just one error in 33 attempts, as she posted a .455 attack percentage. Rymer also reached double-digit kills (10), while closing with a .357 attack percentage in 28 attempts. Both Abrielle Eckenroth and Maia Johnson came through with seven kills for Salem.

Olivia Torres led the Spirits in digs with 16 on the match, while McKenzie Tullock contributed 14. Johnson anchored the front row with two solo blocks, while Rymer had a pair of assisted blocks.

To put the current volleyball home winning streak into historical context, it ranks as the second-longest home winning streak on campus by any program in Salem history. The winningest home streak by a Salem athletic program is 24, which belongs to the soccer program. From October 18, 2014 through October 17, 2017, the Salem soccer program won 24 straight matches. 

The longest winning streak for the basketball program at Varsity Gym is 12, which spanned from January 22, 2013 through January 26, 2014. The softball team had a 10-game winning streak, which spanned from March 23, 2016 through February 17, 2017. 

>THREE WINS IN A WEEK MOVES SALEM'S STREAK TO 12 CONSECUTIVE
The Salem volleyball team ran its overall winning streak to 12 straight with a 3-0 week that included victories over Meredith and N.C. Wesleyan. Salem, which is 7-2 on the road this season, has now moved to 10-0 at home in 2024. That marks the third straight season with 10 home wins and is the fourth time in program history with at least 10 wins at Varsity Gym. The first 10-win season at home came in 2017 under former head coach Kevin Troupe. 

at N.C. Wesleyan | Oct. 26: The Salem volleyball team equaled its single-season program record in wins (23) as the Spirits conducted a pair of sweeps against N.C. Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon in Rocky Mount, N.C., by scores of 25-14, 25-20, 25-19 and 25-15, 25-21, 25-21. The victories moved Salem's winning streak to 12 matches and marks the 14th sweep by the unit in 2024. 

Junior Aspen Bradley led the way for the Salem offensive attack, combining for 23 kills and a .326 attack percentage in 49 total attacks. Teammate Ellie Scherer came through with 11 kills in the opening match of the day between the two, while Anna Rymer combined for 10 in the two matches. 

First year setter Leah Rymer made her presence felt with 61 assists in six sets played, while McKenzie Tullock tallied 21 digs in the two matches. 

Salem has recorded nine 3-0 sweeps during its current 12-match winning streak, including six straight. 

>RECORD WATCHING: BRADLEY CLOSING IN ON 1,000-KILL CLUB MEMBERSHIP
Anna Rymer might soon have company as a member of the 1,000-kill club in her collegiate career as teammate Aspen Bradley is rapidly heading towards the quadruple-digit number. 

Bradley, who entered the season with 641 kills to her credit, went over the 300-kill mark for the second time in her career when she combined for 39 kills in 82 attacks and posted a .378 attack percentage in matches against Meredith and N.C. Wesleyan last week. 

The Redmond, Oregon, native is averaging 3.32 kills/set at a highly proficient level with a .345 attack percentage, both of which are single-season career-highs. She has rattled off six straight double-digit kill performances and has topped the double-digit kill mark in 22 of 27 matches this season. 

Bradley, who has the second-most single-season kills in program history (351), is trying to regain the top mark in single-season kills from former teammate Valeria Rosa Lopez. Lopez set the mark last season with 362. 

With 329 kills to her credit in 2024, Bradley joins Valeria Rosa Lopez and Kylie Taffer as the only players in program history with a pair of 300-kill seasons in their career in Salem volleyball history. 

When Bradley does reach the 1,000-kill mark, she will become the fourth player in program history to accomplish the feat. The others include Taylor Moulton (1,106), Taffer (1,059) and Lopez (1,023). 

>LEAH RYMER ALSO ON RECORD-SETTING PACE
First year setter Leah Rymer became the second player in program history to eclipse the 800-assist mark in a career as she enters the week with 813 assists (8.21 assists/set). 

Rymer trails only Hannah Delcamp, who owns the top single-season assist marks in program history. Delcamp, who established the program's single-season assist mark with 978 in 2016, followed that by handing out 906 assists as a senior in 2019. Prior to the start of the season, Chelsea Jones, who serves as the head coach at nearby Carolina University, sat third in single-season assists with 697. 

>SCOUTING REPORT—SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Southern Virginia, which began October with a five-set win over the Spirits, is boasting a 9-1 record during month. The lone setback came by a 3-1 decision to Greensboro at Hanes Gymnasium on October 23rd. 

Sydney Bassett leads the unit in kills with 336 on the season, while Brookelyn Madland and Breanna Clyde have contributed 266 and 248, respectively. Meanwhile, Gracie Fulton (499 digs) and Summer Hahn (73 blocks) anchor the defensive attack. 

LAST TIME (vs. Southern Virginia | Oct. 2): After being extended to its 10th fifth-set match since the 2022 campaign, the Salem volleyball team suffered a 20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-25, 15-10 setback to Southern Virginia in a USA South Conference action in Buena Vista, Va.

Three Spirits reached double-digit kills, including Aspen Bradley (13), Ellie Scherer (10) and Maia Johnson (10). Teammate Leah Rymer quarterbacked the offense with 39 assists. Meanwhile, McKenzie Tullock and Anna Rymer highlighted the back row with 23 and 20 digs, respectively. 

With the match tied at two games apiece, following a fourth set win by the Spirits, Southern Virginia's Breanna Clyde drove a kill past the defense to grab the 6-3 lead. Abrielle Eckenroth and Maia Johnson answered with spikes for the Spirits, evening the game at six, but it was two errors and kills in the Knights' favor that resulted in a 13-10 margin. Southern Virginia tallied the final two points of the match, clinching the win.

>SCOUTING REPORT—WILLIAM PEACE
The Spirits take to the road to face William Peace for a second time this season when the two teams meet in Raleigh, N.C. at 12 p.m. on Saturday, November 2nd. 

The Pacers open the week with a 13-13 overall mark that includes a 6-7 record in USA South Conference action. William Peace will square off against N.C. Wesleyan on Tuesday evening before hosting the Spirits on Saturday afternoon. 
Jordan Juanes leads all Pacer hitters with 304 kills (3.20 kills/set), while Vivian Camplin tops the unit with 332 digs. Teammate Jordan Chinigo anchors the front row attack for William Peace with 53 blocks, including 11 solo blocks. 

LAST TIME (vs. William Peace | Oct. 5): Bradley drove home a single-match career-high 20 kills, posting a .306 attack percentage along the way, while Anna Rymer added 12 kills to lead the Spirits to a four-set victory (29-27, 23-25, 25-21, 25-12) in the first match of the afternoon against William Peace. 

Bradley was also active on defense with two assisted blocks and one solo block. Bradley and Bella Mann, who delivered two assisted blocks, helped Salem close with four solo blocks and eight assisted blocks as a unit. First year Leah Rymer was the catalyst to the Spirits' offense, with her single-season high 47 assists, as the team posted 61 kills and a .316 attack percentage. The 61 kills mark the second-most in program history in a four-set affair alongside clashes with Methodist and Pfeiffer in 2022 and another match with Pfeiffer in 2023. 

Leah Rymer completed her double-double performance by adding 20 digs, while McKenzie Tullock was responsible for 13.

>SCOUTING REPORT—EASTERN MENNONITE
When the Spirits make their trek to the Capital City of Raleigh on Saturday they will also clash with Eastern Mennonite. 

The two units have met 11 other times in program history with Eastern Mennonite owning a 9-2 edge in the all-time series. The most recent meeting came on September 4, 2021, Barry Rymer's first season on the job as Salem's head coach. Eastern Mennonite prevailed in three sets that afternoon by scores of 25-17, 30-28 and 25-22. 

In 2024, the Royals are 8-13 on the season and 2-8 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Eastern Mennonite has won two of its last three matches, claiming victories against Randolph-Macon as well as Washington & Lee in five sets. 

Eastern Mennonite will face Ferrum in a mid-week match on Wednesday before heading to William Peace for the weekend. Sophia Denby leads the way on offense for the Royals with 188 kills, while the defensive tandem of Anna Black (304 digs) and Kenley Smith (55 blocks) anchor the defense.