Site: Winston-Salem, N.C.

Scores:
Salem 3, N.C. Wesleyan 0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-14)
William Peace 3, Salem 2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-18, 15-10)

Records: Salem (18-8, 10-5 USA South) / N.C. Wesleyan (8-17, 4-11 USA South)

Up Next:
Salem vs. Brevard | October 27 | Varsity Gym | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 6 p.m.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The Salem volleyball team wrapped up its second tri-match of October with a split, earning a 3-0 victory in the opening match of the day against N.C. Wesleyan (25-12, 25-16, 25-14) before falling in five sets to USA South Conference leader William Peace (22-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-18, 15-10) in a pair of league clashes at Varsity Gym.

Salem earned its third win of the season, second in league action, over N.C. Wesleyan behind a pair of 10-kill outings from Aspen Bradley and Anna Rymer. The duo both made 24 total attacks and finished with a .333 attack percentage, while teammate Valeria Rosa Lopez closed with seven kills. Salem notched its 10th .300 attack percentage of the season, finishing with a .308 team attack percentage.

Lopez was also active on defense with 16 digs, while Ella Brameus added 15 and Macy Nelson topped double figures with a 14-dig performance. Salem tallied 12 assisted blocks, including four from Brooklyn Snow and three each from Bradley and Rymer.

The afternoon pitted Salem and William Peace against each other for the first time since the Spirits claimed a five-set win in Raleigh on October 11th. Lopez, who led four Salem hitters in kills with 14, was joined offensively by Rymer (13 kills), Bradley (12) and Abrielle Eckenroth (10). Eckenroth led the quartet with a .364 attack percentage, committing just two errors along the way.

While the pair of Ashlee Peek (26) and Ashlyn Wood (25) reached double-digit assists, Salem managed a .229 attack percentage in the match. Defensively, six Spirits finished with at least 10 digs, including Lopez (23), Brameus (14), Peek (13), Nelson (12), McKenzie Tullock (11) and Wood (10).

Salem 3, N.C. Wesleyan 0

FIRST SET RECAP
Salem's offense exploded for 16 kills and a .300 attack percentage in the frame, braking an early three-all deadlock with an 8-3 run that was capped off by an assisted block from Snow and Bradley. Snow added a kill to put Rymer in serve before Bradley rattled off four consecutive kills to stretch the Spirits lead to 15-8. Lopez delivered two kills and two service aces to help Salem complete the opening set win.

SECOND SET RECAP
The Spirits ran out to an 11-2 lead, due in large part to Nelson's service game which also included a pair of slams from Eckenroth, to establish the early lead. Five Salem kills, two of which came off the hand of Snow, helped stretch the lead to 20-9 for the Spirits. Rymer added two kills in the final five points to deliver Salem's 25-16 victory.

THIRD SET RECAP
Behind three kills each from Bradley and Lopez, along with a .306 attack percentage in the set, Salem notched its 10th three-set victory of the season. As with the previous two sets, Salem grabbed an early lead, this time behind a service ace from Lopez that resulted in a 9-3 advantage. The Battling Bishops made run that trimmed that margin to four, 11-7, but it was two strikes apiece from Eckenroth and Rymer that provided Salem a 20-10 lead. Kills down the stretch from Lopez and Taylor Alleyne helped the Spirits win their 10th USA South Conference match of the season.

William Peace 3, Salem 2

FIRST SET RECAP
Salem took advantage of a set-high 16 kills, finishing with a .343 attack percentage, which included six kills from Bradley to grab the opening set win. The Spirits fought off a tough start to eventually bring the set to a 10-all deadlock on a kill from Brameus. William Peace answered with a 6-1 run, but the Spirits capitalized on kills from Rymer, Brameus and Lopez to finally grab a 19-18 lead. Bradley drove four kills past the Pacers' defense and gave Salem a 24-20 lead. She delivered the decisive point to counter a slam from Shelby Cooper, and provide Salem with the 1-0 lead.

SECOND SET RECAP
The Pacers responded to that challenge by exploding for 17 kills and a .459 attack percentage, the highest of any set in the match, in the second frame. Hannah Collier came through with four kills in a seven-point stretch, resulting in a 12-8 William Peace lead. Eckenroth, along with Lopez and Rymer, kept the Salem offense within striking distance, as the Spirits trimmed the deficit to 17-14. Salem moved within two points on two occasions, but it was the combination of Collier on offense and three unforced errors by the Spirits that tied the match at 1-1.

THIRD SET RECAP
After five ties in the first 18 points, resulting in a nine-all deadlock, Rymer slammed home a kill and Snow quickly followed to give the Spirits a two-point lead. Salem eventually built a 16-11 lead, following a Collier error, and kept the margin intact with a series of slams from Bradley, Lopez and Eckenroth. The tandem of Rymer and Brameus were too much for the Pacers to handle down the stretch as Salem moved back in front 2-1 with an eight-point victory.

FOURTH SET RECAP
Once again, William Peace responded to the Salem victory by grabbing an early lead, 13-8, following a service ace from Mackenzie Russell. Eckenroth followed with two kills, moving Salem into double digits, but three service aces from the combination of Collier and Logan Moore kept William Peace in front 20-11. Salem made a late rally, behind strikes from Rymer, Lopez, Wood and Snow, but it was a service ace by Hannah Ward that evened the match at 2-2 and forced a fifth set for the Pacers.

FIFTH SET RECAP
The two teams traded points and forced four ties in the first 16 points, reaching a climatic 8-8 deadlock. An unforced error by the Salem offense opened the door for Ward to take over in serve and the Pacers junior delivered by forcing five errors and converting a service ace before teammate Landis Limon drove home the deciding point.

SALEM NOTES
-With 10 kills against N.C. Wesleyan and 12 kills in a clash with William Peace, Aspen Bradley becomes the fourth player in program history with at least 300 kills in a single-season. Bradley, with 302 kills, joins Kylie Taffer (330-2016 / 312-2017) and Taylor Moulton (329-2016) as the only players with 300 kills in a single season in Salem history.
-Ella Brameus slides into seventh in Salem history in single season digs (343), one behind current teammate Valeria Rosa Lopez for sixth-most in a single-season. Brameus needs one to tie Lopez and two to break her 2021 mark (344) for sixth-most.
-Ella Brameus made her impact felt in the service game with three aces, giving her 46 on the slate. That is tied for seventh-most in a season, alongside Brittany Miller (46) and 10 off the record pace set by Hillary McPhatter in 2014.
- The Spirits rebounded from their lowest attack percentage of the season against Southern Virginia (.094) to top the .300 attack percentage mark for the 10th time this season, posting a .308 hitting percentage against N.C. Wesleyan by virtue of 45 kills and nine miscues in 117 total attacks. It is the fifth time in the last seven matches that Salem has hit at least .300.
-With the three wins this season, Salem now leads its all-time series with N.C. Wesleyan by a 9-7 margin.
-Marks the second time in the series with William Peace that Salem won the match in Raleigh, N.C., and the Pacers responded by taking the match at Varsity Gym. The other two times it happened were in the 2009 and 2012 seasons.