SALEM, W.Va. — The Salem University women's volleyball team dropped a pair of home matches on Saturday inside T. Edward Davis Gymnasium, falling in a five-set heartbreaker (24-26, 25-22, 19-25, 25-17, 15-10) to Livingstone College before taking a 3-1 setback (25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 27-25) against Shawnee State University.
The sweep on the day moves the Tigers to 10-6 overall on the season.
Livingstone 3, Salem 2
Salem kicked off the morning slate in a grinding, back-and-forth five-set battle against Livingstone (6-1).
The Tigers struck first, fighting off late pressure in set one to secure a narrow 26-24 win. Livingstone answered back in the second frame, but Salem regained the match lead in set three, hitting .268 behind steady production from Hailey Haynes and Alexandra Vigneron to claim a 25-19 set victory.
However, the Blue Bears responded with forced errors on Salem in set four to push the match to a decisive fifth frame. Livingstone carried that momentum into the finale, taking early leads and hitting .240 in the final frame to seal the 15-10 set win and complete the comeback victory.
Vigneron led four Tigers in double-digit kills with 12, while Brianna Beyerle notched an 11-kill, 12-dig double-double. Noemi Combi added 10 kills, and defensive specialist Lorin Turkdogan paced the backline with 21 digs. Katie Kennedy and Amari Nunez handled the setting duties with 18 and 17 assists, respectively.
Livingstone was led by Hailey Henriquez, who put down a match-high 19 kills.
Shawnee State 3, Salem 1
In the afternoon matchup, Salem bounced back offensively but fell in a tightly contested four-set affair to Shawnee State (5-8).
Shawnee State opened strong, taking set one 25-20, but the Tigers responded emphatically in set two. Salem put together its most dominant offensive frame of the day, attacking at a .414 clip with 16 kills to secure a 25-18 set victory and level the match.
Set three favored the Bears, setting up a wild fourth frame that saw eight tie scores. Salem threw everything at Shawnee State late, racking up 18 kills in the frame, but the Bears held firm in extra points to lock up the set 27-25 and seal the match win.
Vigneron once again anchored the Salem attack with a team-high 19 kills on a .325 hitting percentage. Beyerle added 13 kills and 10 digs, while Combi hit .308 with 12 kills. Kennedy directed the primary offense with 32 assists, and Turkdogan led the backline with 17 digs.
Shawnee State was propelled by Kaylee McInnis, who logged 14 kills on a .400 hitting percentage.
