SALEM, West Virginia - After a tough run last week, the Salem Tigers volleyball team continued their home stand this evening with a match against the West Liberty Hilltoppers. It was another hard fought contest for both squads, but it would be the Hilltoppers who came out of the contest with a 3-0 victory. 

In the first frame, the Tigers fell behind initially, but kept things close with a couple of key kills from Tahnee Gerard and Jocelyn Rios. West Liberty answered with some strong offensive play  of their own to hold off the Tigers advances. Subsequently, Salem dropped set one by a score of 25-17. 

For the second set, things opened in a very similar manner for the Tigers. West Liberty took initial control, but Salem kept the pressure on with some critical offensive plays from Valentina Poti and Sydney Kopshina. Despite the strides, the second set ended just like the first with Salem falling 25-17. 

In the final set, Salem had to throw everything they had left at the Hilltoppers if they hoped to get back into the contest. They did just that, and found some initial success with multiple kills from Hailey Haynes and Noemi Combi. However, the experienced Hilltopper team battled back, and erased the Tiger lead down the stretch to take the final set 25-18, and therefore the contest 3-0. 

The Tigers still had some bright areas on the contest's stat sheet. Noemi Combi and Hailey Haynes combined to lead Salem in kills with 7 each. Arianna Parsley logged 11 assists, and Mikaela McEvoy tallied 9 digs for the Tigers defensively. 

Despite the loss, Salem still has a lot of home volleyball to play this week. They play host to the Frostburg State Bobcats on Thursday, October  3rd at 7 PM for their next contest in T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.