SALEM, West Virginia - Salem returned to their home court tonight to take on the visiting Bald Eagles from Lock Haven University led by head coach Mike Kraft. The Tigers entered tonight looking to get into the win column for the first time this season after dropping two games on the road to Glenville State (3-2) and Point Park University (3-0). 

The first set was a real nail biter with both teams trading blows early. The Bald Eagles were able to string together 5 goals in a row to take a 9-3 advantage. Salem was then able to stop the bleeding and looked like they had a comeback on their hands. The energy on the court picked up and the Tigers held a 22-18 lead over Lock Haven as the first set entered its final points. Unfortunately, the Tigers were unable to hold on to the lead, allowing Lock Haven to score seven of the final eight points of the set which led them to a 25-23 victory in a tightly contested opener to the match.

The sides flipped for set number two and the Bald Eagles seemed like they had a new fire lit under them. They jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the early stages and looked to be in the drivers seat once again. Salem buckled down and continued their trend of coming back from early deficits. They trimmed the Bald Eagles lead to only three when McEvoy scored on an ace to score for Salem making it 12-9. Lock Haven flipped the switch from there, going on a 13-3 run which included seven unanswered points tp win set number two 25-12.

Neither team was willing to give any ground to open the third set, after trading points back and forth to open both teams were tied at three a apiece. From there the parody between the two sides did not end. Both sides remained even until Lock Haven was able to put together a run and push their lead to five points at 10-5. Salem head coach, Matt Carpenter, took a time-out to try and calm his players and make adjustments to the game plan. Something seemed to click as Salem came out of the timeout and scored four points straight to bring the set within one. The game remained tightly contested until the third and final set began to come to a close. With Salem in striking distance to take a set and push this match to a fourth the Bald Eagles dug deep. They scored the final four points of the set to win 25-18 and clinch the match 3-0.

The Salem Tigers will be back at it on Wednesday, September 13th taking on the University of Cincinnati-Clermont in a road matchup for Salem at 6:00 pm.

SALEM STAT LEADERS

Kills: McKenzie Clynke (8)

Aces: Mikaela McEvoy (3)

Blocks: Nakyia Middleton (2)

Assists: Trinity Eliasen (9)