>OPPONENTS (Week of Sept. 16-21)
Salem at Methodist | September 17 | 7 p.m.
Salem vs. Greensboro | September 19 | 7 p.m.
Salem vs. Pfeiffer | September 20 | 4 p.m. / 6 p.m.
>SPIRITS RETURN TO COURT AFTER BRIEF BREAK IN ACTION
The Salem volleyball team returns to action after a 10-day layoff and will begin its 2024 USA South Conference schedule. The first league foe for the Spirits is Methodist, who will host Salem in Fayetteville, N.C. on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. Salem will follow its clash against Methodist with a pair of home matches against both Greensboro (Sept. 19) and Pfeiffer (Sept. 20).
>RECAPPING ROANOKE COLLEGE TOURNAMENT FOR THE SPIRITS
Salem wrapped up a two-day, four-match stay at the Roanoke College Tournament with four wins between September 6-7. The four wins allowed the Spirits to move their winning streak to five straight.
vs. Randolph | Sept. 6: The junior tandem of
Ella Brameus and
Aspen Bradley led the way for a Salem unit that picked up its first sweep of the 2024 campaign as the Spirits downed Randolph by scores of 25-11, 25-12, 25-18 in the opening game of the Roanoke College Tournament on Friday afternoon.
Brameus came through with an all-around performance that included 13 digs, five kills, three service aces and a .273 attack percentage. Meanwhile, Bradley was the lone Spirit with double-digit kills (10), along with a .333 attack percentage of her own.
The two were joined offensively by
Isabella Mann and
Maia Johnson, who contributed nine kills apiece. That quartet, which took advantage of a match-high 20 assists from
Leah Rymer, led Salem to 40 kills and a .281 attack percentage in the victory.
Mann also came through with nine digs, while
Jolina Bun added eight for the Spirits.
vs. Ferrum | Sept. 6: Salem won its third straight head-to-head clash against Ferrum and assumed a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series with a 25-27, 23-25, 25-15, 25-19, 15-6 victory against the Panthers in the afternoon session of the Roanoke College Tournament.
Three Spirits—
Anna Rymer, Mann and Johnson—all tallied 15 kills each for a lineup that notched 67 kills and a .243 attack percentage. Rymer was the best percentage hitter (.429), while Mann posted a .343 attack percentage in the contest.
Brameus finished tops on the unit in digs (19), notching four more than Bun and three more than teammate
McKenzie Tullock. The defense also received six assisted blocks from
Anna Rymer and five from Bradley.
vs. N.C. Wesleyan | Sept. 7: The Salem volleyball team moved its winning streak to four straight with a 25-14, 25-13, 25-14 triumph over N.C. Wesleyan on Saturday morning.
Salem capitalized on 45 kills and a .298 attack percentage, which included 13 kills (.455 attack pct.) from
Maia Johnson and 12 kills from
Anna Rymer. Rymer was highly efficient in her outing, committing just one miscue in 21 total attacks, to finish with a .524 attack percentage
Ashlyn Wood and
Leah Rymer, who tallied 18 and 17 assists, respectively, led the way for the offensive attack. Meanwhile,
McKenzie Tullock led the way for the defense with 13 digs and junior classmate
Ella Brameus added 10 digs to go along with six kills and two service aces.
vs. Hollins | Sept. 7: Anna Rymer delivered a 15-kill, .577 attack percentage performance for the Spirits, leading the way for a unit that closed with 50 kills and a combined .280 attack percentage. Rymer didn't commit one attack error in the four-set win over Hollins and was joined in double-digit kills by teammate
Aspen Bradley, who closed with 10.
>JOHNSON EARNS USA SOUTH ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
After closing out a two-day, four-match stretch where she tallied 45 kills, five assisted blocks and posted a .398 attack percentage, Salem first year
Maia Johnson was recognized as USA South Rookie of the Week. The announcement came in a release from the league's office on Monday, September 9th.
Johnson becomes the sixth different Spirit to earn the distinction in the USA South and the fourth under head coach
Barry Rymer. The others include
Aspen Bradley (2022),
Jolina Bun (2023) and
Adalyn Raney (2023).
The Mineral Wells, West Virginia, native equaled teammate
Anna Rymer for most kills (45) at the Roanoke College Tournament as Salem finished 4-0 in the event. Johnson was the second-most efficient hitter, closing with a .398 attack percentage, after driving home 45 kills in 88 attempts, committing just 10 miscues along the way.
Johnson was one of four Spirits with at least five blocks at the event, along with
Anna Rymer (15),
Aspen Bradley (10) and
Ella Brameus, who also tallied five blocks.
The Salem first-year began the weekend by driving home nine kills in 18 attempts, posting a .500 attack percentage, as she notched her fifth consecutive match with at least nine kills in a clash with Randolph. She followed that performance with a single-match season-high 15 kills (.257 attack percentage) in a five-set win against Ferrum, later Friday evening.
In the opening match of Saturday action, which took place against N.C. Wesleyan, Johnson recorded 13 kills and a .455 attack percentage, while assisting on four blocks against the Battling Bishops. Her weekend came to a close with eight kills and a .538 attack percentage in four sets versus Hollins.
>PICKING UP SOME HARDWARE
First year
Maia Johnson not only became the first to claim an award for the program from the USA South Conference this season, but she also earned All-Tournament honors at the Averett University Tournament on August 30-31.
Teammate
Anna Rymer followed that up with All-Tournament honors of her own at the Roanoke College Tournament the next weekend.
>STREAKING SPIRITS
For the fourth time in the last two years and the eighth time in program history the Spirits have won at least five straight matches.
The current five-match winning streak began with a 3-1 triumph over Roanoke and was followed by wins over Randolph (3-0), Ferrum (3-2), N.C. Wesleyan (3-0) and Hollins (3-1), all of which came at the Roanoke College Tournament.
With one more win the streak would reach six straight, tying the longest in program history. Salem has won six straight matches on four occasions, including a pair of six-match winning streaks in 2023. The others came in the 2012 and 2017 seasons.
Barry Rymer is the only head coach to have multiple six-match winning streaks during their time at Salem.
>SCOUTING REPORT—METHODIST
The Monarchs head into the week with a 9-1 mark and on an eight-match winning streak. Methodist opened the season with a decisive 3-0 win over Guilford on August 30th before falling in five sets to Roanoke later that same afternoon.
Since that point, the Monarchs have rattled off eight wins, including three sweeps and three in four sets.
Methodist is led offensively by the trio of Jeanana Fowler (144 kills), Jamie Holton (135) and Savannah Hovander (123). Hannah Hewett's 435 assists lead the way for the Monarchs' offense, which is averaging 17.21 kills/set.
Defensively, Blake O'Brien (207 digs) and Hovander (29 blocks) anchor the Methodist attack. Hovander has 13 solo blocks to her credit, a team-high.
>SCOUTING REPORT—GREENSBORO
Greensboro, who does not play this week until a clash with Salem on Thursday evening, sits at 7-3 overall.
The Pride are in the midst of their second three-match winning streak of the season, which includes recent triumphs over Guilford (3-1), Lynchburg (3-2) and LaGrange (3-0).
The top three kill artists for Greensboro include Krista Brantley (83), Payton Wright (82) and Kelci Brooks (81). That trio, along with setters Jaylyn Templeton (168 assists) and Grace Klingensmith (164), have helped The Pride average 15.66 kills/set through the first 10 matches.
Morgan Mayfield is tops on the team in back row defenders with 241 digs, while Karla del Castillo leads the way for the front row with 21 blocks. Taylor Cotie has accounted for seven solo blocks for The Pride.
>SCOUTING REPORT—PFEIFFER
Pfeiffer, which clashes with William Peace on Wednesday evening, before making the trek to Winston-Salem on Friday, enters the week with a 3-4 mark.
Before claiming a recent 3-0 win over Warren Wilson on Saturday afternoon in Asheville, N.C., the Falcons had dropped four straight matches to Covenant, Guilford, Carolina University and Maryville in succession.
Haedyn McGrath and Jada Thomas, who have 46 and 43 kills, respectively, lead the way for the Pfeiffer offensive attack. There are eight Falcons who have at least 10 kills on the season for an offensive unit that is averaging 12.32 kills/set.
Gabby Edwards' 59 digs is tops among back row defenders, while Madison Tate leads the front row attack with 18 blocks.
