Box Score
It took nearly two-and-a-half hours to complete, but Lourdes finally pulled out a 24-26, 32-30, 25-20, 17-25, 15-10 victory over Marygrove on Wednesday night in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference match held at University of Detroit High School in Detroit, Mich.
 
The victory improves the Gray Wolves to a perfect 3-0 in five-set matches this season.  Lourdes has won eight straight five-set matches overall dating back to November of 2011.  With the win the Gray Wolves remain perfect all-time against Marygrove as well, moving to 9-0 in the all-time series.
 
"It's good to get a road conference win," head coach Greg Reitz stated.  "They are a scrappy team and we battled from behind early and then pulled out the fifth set after they extended the match."
 
Trailing 12-11 in the opening set, the Mustangs scored five straight points to take the lead for good in building an early advantage in the match.  Marygrove forced Lourdes into 11 attack errors in the opening set as the Gray Wolves hit just .024.
 
The second set saw 16 ties and six lead changes as the two schools battled in extra points.  Lourdes fought off four set points while Marygrove held off three of its own before an error by the Mustangs evened the match at one set each.
 
Lourdes used a 12-3 run in the third set to build a 19-10 lead, only to see the hosts battle back.  Marygrove closed to within two, 22-20, only to have the Gray Wolves score the final three points of the set.
 
Fourteen attack errors in the fourth set by Lourdes allowed the Mustangs to force the decisive fifth set as the Gray Wolves hit -.111 as a team.  A 6-0 run by Marygrove broke open a set which was tied at 11 midway through the stanza.
 
In the final set, Lourdes went on a 7-1 run to build an 11-4 lead which the Gray Wolves would not relinquish the rest of the way.
 
Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) led the way Lourdes with 15 kills while Stephanie Richards (Toledo, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) added a double-double with 14 kills and 18 digs.  Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.) handed out 44 assists while tallying 17 digs and Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morrell H.S.) tallied a team-high 22 digs.
 
"Lauren Norman (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman H.S.) came off the bench and played well for us as well tonight," Reitz added.
 
Norman had nine kills and nine digs for the Gray Wolves.
 
Amelia Velez led Marygrove (13-10, 0-6 WHAC) with 16 kills while Nicole Kempinski dished out 37 assists while tallying 25 digs.  Kara Kempinski registered a match-high 34 digs for the Mustangs.
 
Lourdes (11-8, 2-4) will return to action on Friday evening, hosting Rio Grande in non-conference action.  The match is slated to begin at 8 p.m. and will be held at Owens Community College.