College volleyball: Rymer’s time at Salem – Salisbury Post

Anna Reimer

Leah Reimer

Barry Reimer

By Mike London

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WINSTON-SALEM — Freshman Leah Reimer sets her sights, senior Anna Reimer kills and coach Barry Reimer smiles and counts his blessings.

Volleyball is definitely a family affair for Salem College, a small all-girls school tucked away in the Old Salem area of ​​metropolitan Winston-Salem.

The three Reimers of China Grove, a proud father and his two daughters, have helped make Salem a surprise force in USA Volleyball South. Salem (18-4, 9-2) is no longer a well-kept secret. Salem defeated Greensboro College on the road Thursday, ending the Pride’s season and winning a program-record seventh straight game.

“I’ve read that 90 percent of the time you’re going to spend in your life with your kids is before they get out of high school,” Barry said. “So to be able to put both of my daughters through college, to spend so much time with them every day, is a completely unexpected opportunity that I’m very grateful for.”

Barry is a well-known local volleyball junkie who has been around for years as a volunteer coach and instructor. He has coached at the China Grove YMCA, China Grove Middle School, Catawba College, South Rowan High and the Rowan Volleyball Club. Cut it and little volleyballs will spill out.

“After I retired, I thought it would be great to get paid to coach volleyball to supplement my income,” he said with a laugh. “I was hired by Salem.”

He came aboard as head coach in July 2021 with Salem’s volleyball program in a rocky spot. Those were the COVID days. Salem was pretty good the previous season, but a lot of players had graduated and some who were eligible to return weren’t coming back. The pandemic brought restrictions and disrupted schedules.

“The first year we only had seven girls,” Reimer said. “I knew it was going to be tough and it was. The games were rescheduled. We had to play people out of position. We had setters and liberos hitting. We were 1-23 and probably did well to win the one we did. I was wondering if it would help me in Salem.’

But then Reimer had a year to hire. He was able to bring in some program-changing players.

One of the key ones was a girl she had known all her life – Anna Reimer. After a stellar career playing for head coach Jenna Horne at South Rowan (she graduates in 2021), Anna turned to playing volleyball for Ferrum College, a school in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

“At the time, Anna said there was no way she was going to Salem,” Barry said with a laugh. “But after one year at Ferrum — she was doing well at volleyball there, but she didn’t really like the school very much — she was asking me if I should transfer to Salem. Having Anna here has really helped us. I thought we had added enough talent to get to maybe five or six wins in 2022. But then we shocked me and everyone else.”

Salem went 21-10 in 2022. The Spirits, as they are called, played five five-set matches and won all five. Rymer was named coach of the year for the conference and for the region.

Salem volleyball didn’t look back. The Spirits won 23 games in 2023. Anna was great on and off the court as a junior. She was second-team All-USA South and was named the school-wide Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

“We still have some recruiting challenges,” Barry said. “We’re small compared to most of the schools in our league. We don’t have the facilities that some schools have.

But Salem was able to get some solid players. Success on the court attracts players from winning high school programs who want to keep winning. Another major selling point for recruits is that Salem is a top-notch academic school. Most members of the student body were among the elite students in their respective high schools.

Salem added Leah Reimer, Barry’s youngest daughter, for the 2024 season. Thin and dark-haired, she looks a lot like Anna, but is not as tall as her sister at 5-foot-10. Leah is a natural setter, a position she performed at South Rowan, and she moved right into that role at the college level as a freshman at Salem.

Leah was undecided about playing volleyball in college, but when she decided to give it a shot, there wasn’t much doubt that it would be at Salem.

“We had a returning setter, so the plan was to play a 6-2 system and use both for a set, but our veteran girl had a back injury, so we were playing a 5-1 with Leah’s setup,” Barry said. “Leah is thriving. She plays really well. She’s been the US South Rookie of the Week two weeks in a row and can make it three in a row this week.

Milestones have been reached. On Tuesday night, when Leah was set, Anna notched her 1,000th career kill in a home win against Methodist University.

“It was a good moment for all of us,” Barry said. “Anna didn’t get 1000 kills in high school because of the matches she lost to COVID.”

On Thursday, Leah dished out 33 assists, Anna had 10 kills and two blocks and the Reimer girls combined for 19 digs in the win in Greensboro.

“This is the first year we’ve been able to beat Greensboro since I’ve been here,” Barry said. “It’s a tough league. Very competitive. Very good teams.”

After Anna moved from Ferrum, the Reimers found a small house in Winston-Salem that eliminated the long commute from Rowan County, although China Grove is still home. The Reimers return to this house for summer and winter vacations. Anna lives with her father, although Leah wanted the dorm life as part of college and chose the college life.

For all Reimers, life does unexpected recycling.

“My dad was my trainer at the YMCA when I was 10 years old,” Anna said. “After I committed to Ferrum, I didn’t think he would ever train me again, but things happened. it’s good We’ve been successful at every school we’ve been in together.”

Playing alongside Leah, receiving sets from her sister is also an experience that Anna thought would end after she left high school, but they still form an effective team. They are always on the same page.

“We had one year playing together at South Rowan when she was a freshman and I was a senior,” Anna said. “Now things have come full circle. She sets and I hit the middle, the same roles we had in South. We won our conference this year and maybe we can win our conference this season. I would love to win it my whole senior year and be able to share that with my family and all my friends on the team.”

Anna is an honors student in communications with an emphasis in writing and English, and she helps students writing essays at Salem. She hopes to write for a living one day, although she also takes many business courses as a backup.

Leah is just starting out on the road to college. Her father plans to train her all the way and may stay with Salem for years after. He really enjoys the school, the people and the program.

“Honestly, I’m not too worried about us winning,” Barry said. “What worries me is whether we are playing well. If we play well, the win will take care of itself. I love the challenge of coaching Salem and I look forward to seeing how good we can be here.”

From humble beginnings, Salem proved to be a rewarding experience for him. He joined the school. He has friends in all sports. He attends every campus sporting event he can get to.

Construction recently began on the beach volleyball courts in Salem. Yes, Barry will also coach this team. Another challenge, but one he will embrace.

Salem will likely be able to play a modified beach volleyball schedule this spring.

But for now, there is a conference championship for indoor pursuit.

The team is tired, but practice makes everything. The Spirits had a fun practice Friday afternoon as they prepared for a matchup at Pfeiffer on Saturday.