Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Lourdes University opened play on Friday evening splitting a pair of matches at the Fighting Bee Classic hosted by Saint Ambrose in Davenport, Iowa.  The Gray Wolves defeated Hannibal-LaGrange 25-15, 25-19, 25-17 in the first match of the day before taking #1 Park to five sets before falling 25-20, 25-22, 26-28, 19-25, 15-12 to conclude the day's play.
 
The Gray Wolves hit a sizzling .380 in the first match against Hannibal-LaGrange, including a stellar .500 mark in the opening set.  Frank Craig (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood H.S.) led Lourdes with 13 kills while hitting .556 for the match while Trevor Lund (Laguna Hills, Calif./Laguna Hills H.S.) and Nick DiMarco (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance H.S.) added nine kills each.
 
“We played very well this afternoon after a long bus ride,” head coach Greg Reitz stated of the win.  “It was a solid performance overall.  Everyone played well in their roles.”
 
Oliver Cizmazia (Bratislava, Slovakia/Metodova H.S.) handed out 35 assists in the three-set win while Zander Epps (San Diego, Calif./Eastlake H.S.) posted six blocks.  Julian Rivera (Bayamon, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) added five more blocks, as the Gray Wolves registered 13 rejections on the day.  Brad Miller (Convoy, Ohio/Crestview H.S.) led the team with six digs.
 
As a team Lourdes tallied eight service aces without surrendering a single ace to Hannibal-LaGrange (3-10).
 
In the final match of the day, Lourdes fought back from two sets down to force a fifth set against unbeaten Park (11-0), but could not finish the upset.
 
“We competed well against Park tonight,” Reitz added.  “We gave ourselves a chance to win.  Unfortunately we had a few too many errors at the wrong time.”
 
DiMarco hit .298 to lead the Gray Wolves against the nation's top-ranked team while putting down 25 kills.  Lund added 18 kills and Craig had 14 more for Lourdes.  Cizmazia dished out 56 assists and registered 14 digs defensively while tallying four service aces.  Miller had 19 total digs and Rivera was in on six of the team's 11 blocks for the match. 
 
Lourdes (8-7) will return to action on Saturday afternoon for the final two matches of the tournament.  The Gray Wolves will face #4 Missouri Valley at 12 p.m. EST before battling Emmanuel (Ga.) at 2 p.m. EST.