SALEM, West Virginia - In their return to their home gym, the Salem Tigers volleyball team hosted the Senators of Davis & Elkins College for a Tuesday night clash. The Tigers made some big strides in the contest, but they were not quite enough to down the Senators. Salem ultimately fell by a final score of 3-1.

In the first set, the Tigers took initial control, but were stung by a big Senator rally and fell behind by as much as 8 points. However, the Tigers regrouped and stormed right back to bring the game within 1 point at 20-19. Yet, the Senators found one more rally, and ultimately won the set 25-19. 

For set 2, the Tigers again kept the pressure on the Senators by coming from behind to knot up the contest at both 11-11 and 14-14. Unfortunately, Salem struggled to find their offensive the rest of the way in set 2, and fell 25-16. 

With their backs against the wall, Salem uncorked their best offensive showing of the evening. Salem jumped out to an early lead, and grew that advantage to as much as 6 at 22-16. The Tigers held off one last Senator comeback bid to force a fourth with a 25-21 scoreline. 

Unfortunately, sealing the third set victory was one of the final bright spots for the Tigers. The opened the fourth set well, but the Senators put together several long rallies take control of the set. The Tigers stormed back to get within 5 points late, but it was too little too late for Salem. Therefore, the Tigers dropped the fourth set 25-20, and the game 3-1. 

On the stats sheet, Salem had a few strong performances. Hailey Haynes led the Tigers with 9 kills, and her teammates Sydney Kopshina and Noemi Combi were right behind her with 8 kills each. Arianna Parsley logged a staggering 29 assists, and Valentina Poti led the Tigers defensively with 15 digs. 

Salem continues their home stand this week against local opponents as they host the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats on Friday, September 27th at 7 PM in Salem's T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.