Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
The Lourdes University women's volleyball team wrapped up its first weekend of play on Saturday afternoon, splitting a pair of matches to earn a third place finish at the Concordia Kick-off Tournament at the Cardinal Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor, Mich.  The Gray Wolves opened with a 20-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-19 setback against Mount Vernon Nazarene in the final match of pool play before winning a thrilling five-set contest against Calumet 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 26-28, 17-15 in the third place match.
 
“It's nice to go 3-1 over the opening weekend but we learned that there are areas in which we need to improve moving forward,” head coach Greg Reitz said after the tournament.  “We had some freshmen step up in some big situations today and that is always nice to see early in the season.”
 
In the opening match against Cougars, Lourdes started strong winning the opening set.  The Gray Wolves held Mount Vernon Nazarene to just a .033 hitting percentage in the opening set while registering 12 kills of their own.  Lourdes trailed 17-18 before scoring eight of the last 11 points.
 
Lourdes looked poised to take a two set advantage, taking an early 8-2 lead and holding a 24-22 advantage late in set two before the Cougars rallied to force extra points and take the victory.  Set three also saw the Gray Wolves lead for most of the set, only to commit four straight errors and allow Mount Vernon Nazarene to capture a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Mount Vernon Nazarene broke open a close set midway through the fourth, capitalizing on seven straight attacking errors to build an 18-10 lead on the way to the match win.
 
“We need to do a better job of registering kills and ending points,” Reitz stated.  “We just need to keep the ball in the court.”

Katie McKenty (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) led Lourdes with 22 kills in the match while Allegra Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion H.S.) handed out 35 assists.  Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) tallied 26 digs for the Gray Wolves.
 
Gina Porto led Mount Vernon Nazarene (3-0) with 13 kills while Kaylee Hewitt had 26 digs.
 
In the final match of the tournament, Lourdes raced out to a two set lead, only to see the Crimson Wave battle back.  Ali Mass (Walbridge, Ohio/Tiffin Calvert H.S.) tallied three service aces in the match's first seven points, helping the Gray Wolves to an early 7-1 lead on the way to the win in the opening set.
 
“It was nice to get off to a good start, winning the opening set, in each match this weekend,” Reitz said.  “That will be a key for us to have success in conference play.”
 
Set two saw Lourdes post its best hitting percentage of the weekend, a .367 clip, tallying 13 kills and committing just two errors.  The hitting helped the Gray Wolves rally from an 18-15 deficit to claim 10 of the set's final 12 points.
 
Calumet answered with a solid hitting game of its own in set three, posting a .263 mark to cut the Gray Wolves' lead in half.  A tight fourth set also went to the Crimson Wave as they fought off a Lourdes match point at 25-24 before winning 28-26. 
 
Lourdes again hit well in set five, notching nine kills and a .350 percentage as the Gray Wolves battled back from 14-12 down to earn the victory.  Jimenez had an ace with the match tied at 14 to give Lourdes its first lead in the set since 8-7, and blocks by Jimenez and Amelia Horton (Milan, Mich./Milan H.S.) on match point secured the win.
 
“We got some clutch serving and it was great to pull out a five-set match, especially down 14-12 in the fifth,” Reitz added.  “Unfortunately, going five sets is not a situation we hoped to see ourselves in especially after decisive wins in each of the first two sets.”
 
McKenty, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led the way again with 18 kills and a team-high 20 digs, while Amanda McDowell (Soldotna, Alaska, Skyview H.S.) added 13kills while hitting .333 for the match.  Horton tallied four blocks, nine kills, and hit .400 for the Gray Wolves.  Jimenez tallied 46 assists and had 14 digs.  Lourdes tallied 79 digs in the match and hit .205, a team-high for the weekend.
 
Gabriela Mendonca led Calumet (2-2) with 18 kills and 19 digs, hitting .286 for the match.
 
Lourdes (3-1) will return to action on Wednesday evening, traveling to Marion, Ohio to face Ohio State-Marion.  First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
 
Match Notes: Lourdes fell to 0-2 all-time against Mount Vernon Nazarene … the meeting against Calumet was the first in program history … McKenty, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, tallied 63 kills (3.94/set) and 43 digs (2.69/set) on the weekend … Jimenez tallied 62 digs (3.88/set) in the tournament … McDowell, a freshman, made her collegiate debut in the Calumet match … Mount Vernon Nazarene won the tournament title with a 3-2 victory over Concordia (Mich.).