>Opponents:
Salem at Meredith | April 5 | Raleigh, N.C. | 2 p.m.
Salem vs. Brevard | April 8 | Bert Lain Tennis Center | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 1 p.m.
Salem vs. Southern Virginia | April 9 | Bert Lain Tennis Center | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 3 p.m.
>SPIRITS SET TO TAKE ON PFEIFFER, COLUMBIA COLLEGE
The Salem tennis team looks to halt a two-match losing streak this weekend when it heads to Raleigh, N.C., to square off against USA South Conference rival Meredith on Saturday afternoon. The match is the first of three in a five-day span for the Spirits, who return home to face Brevard (April 8) and Southern Virginia (April 9).
>CRUMP ASSUMES LEAD IN SINGLES VICTORIES IN 2025
With two singles victories in March, coming against Kristiahn Foster (Hollins) and Kelsey Bantel (Mary Baldwin), first year
Cymone Crump moved past teammate
Adley Keim for the most singles wins on the Salem tennis team in 2025.
Crump moved her win total to five with two-set wins against Foster and Bantel after finishing a perfect 3-0 in the fall where the Spirits faced Guilford, Winston-Salem State and Pfeiffer.
Keim is second on the team in singles victories with four, all coming as the No. 1 seed. Teammate
Mariana Faint is third with three singles wins, while the combination of
Abrielle Eckenroth,
Chloe Koons and
Daisy Ortiz Mendoza have two apiece.
Crump and Keim share the distinction of being the top doubles tandem for Salem in 2025. The two are 5-1 on the season, all as the No. 1 seed, and are a perfect 2-0 when facing league teams.
Eckenroth and teammate
Mariana Faint are second on the unit with a 3-1 mark. Meanwhile, Koons and Mendoza are third with two wins for the Spirits.
>PFEIFFER HANDS SALEM ROAD LOSS LAST WEEKEND
Pfeiffer posted its second win of the season and 10th in the all-time history over the Salem tennis team following a 7-0 victory in USA South Conference play when the two teams clashed on Saturday afternoon at the Knapp Tennis Center in Misenheimer, N.C.
Pfeiffer took advantage of a 6-2 win from Riley Isley and Sydney Cohen in No. 2 doubles, taking down the Salem pair of
Chloe Koons and
Daisy Ortiz Mendoza. Teammates Hailey Ingenito and Alison Sloop quickly followed with a 6-3 win of their own in No. 3 doubles, giving Pfeiffer the team point with a triumph against
Mariana Faint and
Abrielle Eckenroth.
With the team point secured, Megan Rekieta and Sonya Rhoades completed the doubles sweep with a 6-3 win against the Salem pair of
Samantha Smiley and
Adley Keim.
Rhoades provided the second Pfeiffer point of the match as she took down Emily Rhodes by scores of 6-0, 6-0 in No. 6 singles play. Ingenito extended the margin to 3-0 for the Falcons with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Mendoza in No. 3 action.
Pfieffer secured the team victory with its fourth point, which came in a No. 2 win (6-2, 6-0) by Cohen, who downed Faint. The Falcons grabbed their fifth point in No. 4 singles as Fanny Apostolou handed Koons a 6-1, 6-2 loss.
The sixth point came by virtue of Isley's 6-3, 6-0 win in No. 5 singles against Eckenroth. Rekieta faced the toughest battle in singles action in her clash with Keim, emerging in three sets over her No. 1 opponent by scores of 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4).
>KOONS NAMED USA SOUTH ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Coming off a weekend where she earned two points in a 7-0 win at Hollins for the Salem tennis program,
Chloe Koons was named as the USA South Rookie of the Week by the league office on March 10th.
Koons was integral in helping the Salem tennis team claim its first win of the season. She teamed with
Daisy Ortiz Mendoza in No. 2 doubles action to post a 6-0 victory against Sash Mingo and Rachel Hull, providing the first of three doubles wins for the Spirits against Hollins.
Koons followed that up with a pair of 6-0, 6-0 triumphs over Arabella Crookshanks in No. 5 singles play, resulting in the match-deciding point for the Spirits.
The victories marked the first in both singles and doubles in Koons' collegiate career.
>CRUMP CAPTURES SALEM'S SECOND ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONOR IN 2025
For the second time this month a member of the Salem tennis team earned recognition from the USA South Conference office. On March 24th, Salem's
Cymone Crump was named USA South Rookie of the Week after a series of outings against Mary Baldwin and Methodist.
Crump joined teammate
Chloe Koons, who earned USA South Rookie of the Week honors on March 10th, as the only Salem tennis players to receive an award from the league office this season. Crump and Koons become the first Salem first year players to win the USA South Rookie of the Week in the same season. Crump becomes the third different Spirit to earn the distinction in program history, joining Koons and
Alana Bridges, who captured the honor in 2023.
Crump won three points last week for the Spirits, including a pair of doubles outings, as Salem posted a 1-1 mark in USA South Conference action.
The Middletown, N.Y., native was responsible for two points in Salem's 7-0 win over Mary Baldwin on March 18th. Crump and doubles partner
Adley Keim opened the match by claiming a 6-0 win over Gretchen Lutz and Deanna Chapman in No. 1 action.
Later that afternoon, against the Fighting Squirrels, Crump posted a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Kelsey Bantel in No. 2 singles play. Those two points helped Salem open USA South Conference play with a team victory for just the third time in program history since joining the league in 2016.
Crump and Keil moved their doubles mark to 5-1 on the season as they took down the Methodist tandem of Emma Hulicki and Caitlin Tihanovich in a battle of No. 1 teams on Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville, N.C.
With the team point on the line against Methodist, Keim and Crump closed out a 7-5 win over Emma Hulicki and Caitlin Tihanovich to secure the first point of the match for the Spirits.
Crump suffered her only setback of the week in No. 2 singles, falling in a three-set clash to Methodist's Annabelle Subirats, who claimed the 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8) win.
>SCOUTING REPORT: MEREDITH
All-Time Series Record vs. Meredith: Meredith leads all-time series 7-1
Salem earned its first-ever win over Meredith in program history last season. The 6-3 win came in large part because of wins in No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles from the trio of
Adley Keim,
Mariana Faint and
Cadence Durham.
Alana Bridges and
Abrielle Eckenroth were also responsible for singles wins for the Spirits.
The Avenging Angels are 0-6 overall and 0-2 in the USA South Conference heading into this season's match. Meredith has managed just two points on the slate, which came against Lynchburg (March 1) and Randolph-Macon (April 1).
>SCOUTING REPORT: BREVARD
All-Time Series Record vs. Brevard: Brevard leads the all-time series 2-0.
Brevard has earned wins in each of the first two clashes with Salem on the hardcourts, coming away with a 9-0 victory in the 2023 meeting and an 8-1 win a season ago.
The Tornados head into the weekend with a 5-1 overall mark, but are 0-1 in USA South Conference action. The setback came to Pfeiffer (7-0) on Tuesday in Brevard.
Brevard will face Mary Baldwin (April 5) and N.C. Wesleyan (April 7) before heading to Winston-Salem for the clash with Salem. Jada Ore is the top singles player for the Tornados with a 7-0 mark, while three doubles teams have at least three wins on the season.
>SCOUTING REPORT: SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
All-Time Series Record vs. Southern Virginia: Southern Virginia leads the all-time series 6-0.
The Spirits have taken just two points off Southern Virginia in six head-to-head meetings. The first of those came in 2019 and the second was in 2023, resulting in a pair of 8-1 wins by the Knights.
The Knights head into the weekend with a 4-4 overall record and are 2-0 in the USA South Conference. Southern Virginia has captured wins in two of its last three outings, posting 7-0 wins over Meredith (March 15) and Mary Baldwin (April 1) along the way. The setback came at Sweet Briar by a 6-1 margin.
Paula Snelson is the top singles performer for Southern Virginia with a 7-1 mark, while Jillian Arnold is 6-2 on the season. They have paired up for four doubles wins, which tops the Knights in that category.
