Salem faced off with two conference opponents today in Meredith and Mary Baldwin. The Spirits fell to Meredith 0-3, but bounced back to beat Mary Baldwin 3-0.
Set one with Meredith started out fairly close, with the Spirits struggling to find some offensive momentum. Capitalizing on a few Salem errors, Meredith secured a 25-7 lead. A kill from Ella Brameus turned the tides for the Spirits, who then won six of the next seven points. The Angels then found their stride, winning six straight and only allowing the Spirits to win two more points on the way to a 25-15 result.
Set two began with two straight points for Salem, followed by a back and forth. Kills by Bella Mann and Ariana Noplos kept the Spirits competitive, even giving them a 9-7 lead. Meredith had a quick answer, rattling off six of their own. Salem battled back to bring the score to 18-17, but the Angels once again had an answer. Tenley McDonald had a few huge kills to keep the Spirits alive, one of which came in their three set point saves. Ultimately, Meredith was able to secure set two 25-23.
McDonald, Mann and Sadie Rich all tacked on kills to start out set three. Multiple times throughout the set, Meredith would go on a run, then Salem would bounce back and take the lead themselves. After a kill from Mann and a few errors from the Angels, the Spirits were able to secure a 21-19 lead. Meredith then went on to win six of the next seven to secure match point at 25-22.
Salem was looking to bounce back in game two as they took on Mary Baldwin. After a tight first nine points, the Spirits were up 5-4. From that moment on, the Spirits only lost two more points, racking up a whopping 16 point run served by Aspen Bradley. This impressive run saw two aces from Bradley, three kills from Mann, two kills from Taylor Cook, and one kill from Ariana Noplos. The Fighting Squirrels were able to save one set point, but had a service error to end it 25-6 in favor of Salem.
The Spirits kept their momentum up in set two, getting out to an early 6-1 lead. A few points later, the Spirits went on another double-digit run, scoring 10 straight. Kills from Leah Rymer, Cook, and Bradley kept up Salem's intensity. After going up 18-3, Mary Baldwin was able to score two points.The Spirits answered quickly, not dropping another point on their way to a 25-5 win, set point hammered home by Tenley McDonald.
Set three was the most competitive of the matchup as the Fighting Squirrels secured the first two points of the set. MBU even found themselves up by 7-5. The Spirits then went on their third huge run of the day, with Ellie Scherer, McDonald, and Noplos spurring them on to 12 straight. The Fighting Squirrels found some momentum of their own, not letting Salem string more than two together for the rest of the set. Bradley and Scherer put an exclamation point on the contest, securing kills to end the set with a 25-14 result.
The Spirits are next in action on Wednesday October 8th, where they take on Brevard at home and look to continue their impressive home win streak.
