>Opponent:
Salem vs. Johnson & Wales | April 19 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | Bert Lain Tennis Ctr. | 12 p.m.
>SALEM FACES JOHNSON & WALES IN NON-CONFERENCE CLASH
After facing three USA South Conference opponents in a six-day span last week, going head-to-head with Brevard (April 8), Southern Virginia (April 9), N.C. Wesleyan (April 12) and finally non-conference foe Piedmont (April 13), the Salem tennis team will close out the 2025 regular season on Saturday by hosting Johnson & Wales. The two teams will clash at the Bert Lain Tennis Center beginning at noon.
>LOCKED INTO THE USA SOUTH CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT:
The Spirits have earned their third consecutive bid to the USA South Conference Tournament. Salem is sixth in the league standings with a 2-5 mark in league play.
N.C. Wesleyan sits atop the standings at 6-0, while Pfeiffer is second (6-1) and Southern Virginia (4-1) is third. Methodist is holding the fourth spot with a 4-3 record, while Brevard is 3-3. Salem owns a tiebreaker versus Meredith, which is 1-6 on the slate, winning the head-to-head meeting with the Avenging Angels.
>SPIRITS HONORING TWO SENIORS ON SATURDAY
Salem tennis will honor two senior members of the team on Saturday afternoon. Head Coach
Ed Steele will graduate
Abrielle Eckenroth and team manager Alison Ketchie.
Abrielle Eckenroth Capsule: Eckenroth is a double major in both business administration and public health. Along with being a two-sport athlete, Abby is active on campus as the secretary of Morgan's Message, member of the Campus Activities Board and is part of the Salem Scholars Program. During her time with the Salem volleyball program, she was part of a group that posted three 20-win seasons, a program first, and made the biggest single season turnaround from one season to the next when in 2022 the Spirits posted 21 wins following a one-win campaign in 2021. She was a key part of a team that notched 23 wins in 2023 and a program record 30 wins in 2024. Abby also made a successful transition on the tennis courts, earning 11 singles wins in her Salem career, including three this season, along with 11 doubles victories. She posted six doubles wins with
Mariana Faint at her side this season.
Entering Saturday's match, Eckenroth has accumulated the third-most singles wins as the No. 6 seed in program history—nine. She trails only Sabrina Shiekh (13) and Amy Allison (10) in that category. Eckenroth is tied for the second-most No. 3 doubles wins (11) alongside Lauren Holman. Carmen Wilkins has amassed 15 doubles wins in No. 3 action, the most of any Spirit.
Alison Ketchie Capsule: Ketchie is a triple major at Salem College, pursuing degrees in public health, health advocacy and sociology. She enters her final semester with a 3.86 GPA. Ketchie has not only been active in Salem Athletics, but she has also served as the Judicial Council Chair in the Student Government Association. She is also a member of Students for Reproductive Freedom, Siblings Demand Justice, on the boards of the circle. Ketchie is also active on the Mortar Boards Society.
>TIGHT BATTLE FOR MOST SINGLES WINS IN 2025
Entering the final weekend of the 2025 regular season, Salem tennis has three players with at least five singles wins, including
Cymone Crump (seven),
Adley Keim (six) and
Mariana Faint (five).
Crump bumped her singles wins to seven following a three-set victory over Caroline Morrison (Piedmont) in Salem's match on Sunday afternoon. That victory halted a three-match skid for the Spirits' first year.
Keim came through with wins over Ellie Osborne (Meredith) and Hannah Hersh (Brevard), both in two sets, to move within one of Crump's lead in singles wins.
Faint, who competed in three matches last week, emerged victorious over Cate Reilly (Meredith) and Gracie Spangler (Brevard).
Crump and Keim share the distinction of being the top doubles tandem for Salem in 2025. The two are 8-3 on the season, all as the No. 1 seed, and are 4-2 when facing USA South Conference units.
Crump and Keim are responsible for the second-most career doubles wins by a pair in Salem history. The tandem of Andrea Akers and Ayla Pruitt were 9-5 as a unit, marking the best doubles unit in Spirits history.
>LOOKING BACK ON FOUR MATCHES LAST WEEK FOR SPIRITS
Brevard | April 8: Sophomore
Adley Keim delivered two points for the Salem tennis team, including her fourth two-set win in singles this season, in hard-fought 4-3 setback to Brevard in USA South Conference tennis action on Tuesday at the Bert Lain Tennis Center.
Keim and
Cymone Crump paired up at No. 1 doubles to take down Hannah Hersh and Sophie Trantham by a 6-3 score. Meanwhile,
Abrielle Eckenroth and
Mariana Faint fought past the Brevard tandem of Casey Wampler and Gracie Spangler to emerge with a 6-1 win, giving Salem the doubles point.
Southern Virginia | April 9: Salem's
Emily Buckler claimed the first singles win of her collegiate career in a 6-1 setback to USA South Conference rival Southern Virginia at the Bert Lain Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon.
Buckler grabbed her victory over Hailey Seamon in No. 6 singles, battling back from an opening set loss to win 4-6, 6-0, 10-7. Teammates
Mariana Faint and
Abrielle Eckenroth also came through with a win against the Knights, earning a 6-1 victory over Natalia Molanphy and Elizabeth Ursenbach in No. 3 doubles, allowing Salem to be in the hunt for the doubles point.
N.C. Wesleyan | April 12: N.C. Wesleyan claimed its fourth straight win in the series after posting a 7-0 win on Saturday, April 12th.
Piedmont | April 13: Cymone Crump emerged with two wins against the Lions, including a three-set triumph in No. 2 singles, where she downed Carolina Morrison by scores of 6-4, 5-7, 10-7. With the doubles point decided, Crump teamed with
Adley Keim to post a 6-4 win over the duo of Jordan Ballard and Sarah Row.
>SCOUTING REPORT: JOHNSON & WALES
All-Time Series Record vs. Johnson & Wales: Series tied at 2-2.
Salem tied the all-time series at two with a 6-3 win over the Wildcats on April 21, 2023.
The Wildcats are 2-10 on the season entering the weekend after suffering a 7-0 setback to Southern Virginia. Johnson & Wales came through with a 4-3 win against Hollins on April 13th, earning their second victory of the season.
Recap of April 21, 2023 Match: Four singles victories, including the match-winner by Alyson Gammons, helped the Salem tennis team earn a season split over Johnson & Wales at the Bert Lain Tennis Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Friday afternoon. The Spirits' 6-3 victory halted a six-match losing skid and gives Salem momentum heading into the USA South Conference regular season finale against Greensboro.
Salem claimed the first point of the match by default as the pair of
Abrielle Eckenroth and Harley Hedrick were credited with a win by default. Gammons, who paired with Ashley Linden in doubles, helped extend that margin to 2-0 with an 8-5 win in No. 2 doubles over Hannah Stokes and Erin Weidner. However, the Wildcats responded to claim the No. 1 doubles clash as Gabriella Tully and Jacqueline Rodgers took down
Emily Griffis and
Alana Bridges by an 8-4 margin.
Hedrick earned the default point in No. 6 singles, stretching the Salem margin to 3-1. Eckenroth extended her singles winning streak to three, while providing the fourth Salem point, with a 6-0, 6-0 takedown of Lauren Rose in No. 5 singles. The victory marks the fourth of the slate for Eckenroth, who has the third-most wins on the unit.
The Wildcats secured their second win of the match in No. 1 singles as Rodgers posted a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Griffis. The final Johnson & Wales point of the afternoon was awarded in No. 4 singles as Weidner triumphed by scores of 6-0, 6-0 against Linden.
Facing a tightly-contested 4-3 match, Salem responded in No. 3 singles and clinched the team win as Gammons posted a 6-2, 7-5 win over Stokes. The victory by Gammons is her fifth in singles action, which places her second on the Spirits team. Bridges followed suit with a victory of her own, which came from No. 2 singles, as she took down Tully by margins of 7-6, 6-4. It marked Bridges' first win as a No. 2 seed and her team-best sixth singles win of the slate.
