Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Lourdes University earned the first women's volleyball berth to the NAIA National Championships in program history on Saturday after advancing to the championship match of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament held at the Activities Center in Livonia, Mich.
 
For the second straight day the Gray Wolves, the tournament's seventh seed, upset a top-25 opponent in five sets, today doing so against #23 Cornerstone in the afternoon semifinals 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 16-25, 15-13.  Lourdes run ended in the title match, falling to #4 Madonna 25-17, 26-24, 25-16.
 
"What an amazing run it was for us," head coach Greg Reitz stated after the tournament.  "We put everything together at the right time.  We had really strong chemistry all weekend and it paid off."
 
Lourdes jumped on third-seeded Cornerstone early, winning the opening two sets.  The Gray Wolves took control of the opener with five straight points on Michi Jimenez's (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) serve to take a 10-6 advantage.  The lead would grow to six, 17-11 before Cornerstone made a run.  The Golden Eagles pulled to within two, 18-16, but Keyonna Gregory (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.) put down a kill to stop the run.  A Cornerstone error ended the set.
 
In the second it was a 6- run that put Lourdes in front to stay.  Back-to-back aces by Stephanie Richards (Toledo, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) made it 12-10 Gray Wolves.  Lourdes slowly extended its lead on the serve of Jimenez and Alyssa Pelish (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) and closed the set out with an Angie Pagan-Perez (Toa Baja, P.R./Bayamon Military Academy) kill to take the 2-0 lead.
 
Cornerstone took control of the third set early and built a 24-15 lead.  Lourdes fought back, closing to within three after six straight points, but the Golden Eagles closed the set to stay alive in the match.  A 6-1 run by the Golden Eagles in the fourth opened up a 14-10 lead and Lourdes could not recover, and the match headed to a fifth set.
 
"The big thing for us is we never felt in trouble going five," Reitz added.  "All along we were not supposed to win this match, or last night's (against #20 Davenport) so there was no pressure on us."
 
The decisive set was close throughout with eight ties and four lead changes.  Lourdes took the first advantage 4-2 before Cornerstone tied the set at six.  The teams exchanged sideouts until Cornerstone forged a 10-7 lead.  Lourdes tied the set on Pelish's serve and the match stayed tied until 13-13.  Pagan-Perez put down a kill to give Lourdes match point and a Gregory block sent Lourdes into the title match.
 
By advancing to the championship against regular season champion Madonna, Lourdes earned the WHAC's second automatic bid to the NAIA tournament.
 
Richards led Lourdes with 19 kills and four aces in the opener while Pagan-Perez added 16 kills and 15 digs.  Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) and Gregory added 10 kills each as Lourdes hit .149 for the match.  Comte also had five blocks.  Allegra Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion H.S.) handed out 49 assists and racked up 16 digs while Jimenez tallied 22 digs and Pelish added 12 more. 
 
Callie Johnson led Cornerstone (26-11) with 13 kills and 12 digs while Abby Miedema added 24 digs in the loss.
 
In the championship against Madonna, the Crusaders took control of the opening set early.  An 8-1 run put the tournament hosts on top 9-3.  Lourdes did fight back scoring six of seven points to pull within one, 13-12.  Five straight by Madonna gave the Crusaders an insurmountable 18-12 lead though.
 
Set two was close throughout.  After Madonna built a 12-7 lead, Lourdes battled back to take a 15-14 lead behind three Crusader errors and a Recknagel ace.  The teams traded points through 23 all before Lourdes was able to force a set point at 24-23.  Three straight kills by Madonna' Emilie Freeman though gave the set to the Crusaders.
 
Madonna used a 6-0 run in the third set to build a 10-5 lead and never trailed the rest of the way.  A 6-1 run put the match out of reach as the Crusaders took a 19-10 lead, helping the WHAC regular season champions remain unbeaten on the year.
 
"We might have been a bit fatigued by the end after two tough matches prior this weekend," Reitz concluded.
 
Pagan-Perez led Lourdes with 14 kills in the title tilt while Recknagel handed out 31 assists.  In the process she has now set the school's single season assist record with 794 on the year, breaking Hannah Thompson's 2010 mark of 791.  Comte led the defense with 10 digs.
 
Freeman led Madonna (38-0) with 12 kills while Stacey Catalano added 11 digs.
 
Lourdes (21-12) will have to wait until early in the week to determine its first round opponent in the NAIA National Championships.  The first round match will be held on campus sites next Saturday (Nov. 23).