BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Salem's Valeria Rosa Lopez notched the second double-double of her career (22 digs / 12 kills), but it was the tandem of Hope Jennings (13 kills) and Lisa O'Grady (11 kills) that forged Bridgewater to a four-set victory in the opening match of the season for the Spirits, who fell by scores of 25-12, 25-19, 21-25, 25-13 at the Route 42 Classic.

Lopez, the lone Salem (0-1) player to top double figures in kills, was joined offensively by Taylor Alleyne, Nikita Sizemore and Brooklyn Snow, who finished with four kills apiece. Lopez was also active on defense with 22 digs with teammate Macy Nelson contributing eight. Alleyne also came through with two assisted blocks, helping Salem tally six as a unit.

The duo of Jennings and O'Grady accounted for 24 of Bridgewater's 55 total kills, highlighting an offensive attack that finished with a .224 attack percentage. Jessica Bissmeyer (15 digs) and Ashley Casey (11) kept Salem off balance with a solid back row performance while Rachael Meyers led the way for the Eagles (1-0) with three assisted blocks.

A kill by Lopez kept the Spirits within striking distance, 10-6, early in the opening set. However, Bridgewater answered with an 8-1 run with Casey in serve to forge in front by 11 points. Alleyne and Brianna Cherry put Salem into double figures with a series of kills, but Bridgewater scored five of the final seven points to secure the opening game win.

Salem established an early 3-0 lead in the second set, highlighted by a slam from Snow, before an 11-1 run by the Eagles, highlighted by three strikes from Jennings resulted in an 11-4 contest. Moore and Lopez helped trim the deficit to six, 14-8, for the Spirits, but consecutive kills by Jennings put Bridgewater five points from a 2-0 advantage. The trio of Moore, Sizemore and Lopez helped Salem draw within a pair, 21-19, but four unanswered points down the stretch gave the Eagles the six-point win.

Building off momentum from a strong second set, Salem capitalized on kills from Sizemore and Lopez to move in front 7-4 early in the third. Lopez drew the Spirits even at 10, the first of four ties in a 10-point stretch, before Dania Shoaf's service game provided Salem with a 17-15 lead. The Spirits stretched that lead to three, 22-19, in the latter stages of the match with a slam from Lopez. Moore added a kill down the stretch and a pair of attack errors by Bridgewater in the waning stages gave Salem the third set victory.

The tightly contested match reached a six-all deadlock in the opening phase of the fourth set, following a bad set by Hayes, but O'Grady followed with a slam and sparked a four-point run that led to a 10-6 Bridgewater advantage. Two points by the Spirits was not enough to detour Bridgewater, which assumed an 18-9 lead. Sizemore and Laken Edwards added kills to keep the lead within 10, but the Eagles cruised to the 25-13 win to close out the victory.

Salem returns to the court on Saturday, September 4th to face Eastern Mennonite (10 a.m.) and Marymount (2 p.m.) in the final day of action at the Route 42 Classic.