Salem College

#3 seeded Salem Volleyball hosted the First Round of the USA South Conference Tournament tonight, taking on #6 Pfeiffer. The Spirits took home the win to advance to the Semi-Finals with a 3-1 result.

Salem started out hot, winning the first three points off of a setter dump from Leah Rymer and two aces from Madison Bozarth. The Falcons kept it close early, but kills from Sadie Rich, Ariana Noplos, and a pair of aces from Jolina Bun pushed the Spirits to a five point run to regain control. After the two squads traded points back and forth, Pfeiffer grabbed some momentum of their own, winning six of the next seven points to take their first lead of the set 19-18. It didn't take Salem long to answer, with the Spirits taking six of the last seven points to secure the win 25-21.

Set two was full of runs, with six different 3+ point streaks occurring. The Spirits struck first, capitalizing on a few Pfeiffer errors and snagging a kill from the hand of Aspen Bradley. The Falcons quickly had an answer, rattling off four of their own. The next chunk of the set stayed within a few points, until Salem put some separation with a four point run to go up 18-14. The Falcons were not going down without a fight, bringing it back within one, and ultimately tying it up at 22. Two kills from Bradley broken up by a kill from Pfeiffer gave Salem a 24-23 lead. The Falcons were able to stave off set point, then going the distance by winning three straight and winning set two 26-24.

Determined to reset after the loss, Salem started off strong in set three, winning nine of the first ten points. Four of those points were kills from Bradley, plus a kill apiece from Bella Mann and Ellie Scherer. The Spirit's largest margin of lead was 12, when they kept the Falcons to single-digits until after they reached 20. The Spirits only dropped four more points for the remainder of the set, with Bradley and Mann each tacking on two more kills, securing set three 25-14

Salem kept their momentum going into set four, this time winning 11 of the first 12. Both offense and defense were firing on all cylinders for the Spirits, only allowing nine kills from the Falcons. Pfeiffer was able to find some answers later on in the set, rattling off four straight to bring the score within five. Sadie Rich found a second gear, slamming home four kills to win four of the last five points needed to take home the win. Ariana Noplos' kill helped seal the deal for their most dominant win of the night with 25-16.

Salem's stat leaders tonight were Aspen Bradley with 24 kills, Leah Rymer with 49 assists and Madison Bozarth with four aces and 23 digs.

The Spirits will next be in action this Thursday, where they travel to take on #2 seeded Southern Virginia in the USA South Semi-Finals.