Box Score
Lourdes wrapped up the 2013 regular season on Tuesday evening and celebrated Senior Night with a 25-23, 25-11, 25-21 triumph over Siena Heights at Tam-o-Shanter to record the Gray Wolves' fifth victory in their last six matches.
 
“This was a great way to end the regular season,” head coach Greg Reitz stated after the match.  “We started off a bit shaky in set one, but really got things going in the second and carried the momentum through the rest of the match.”
 
Seniors Nick DiMarco (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance H.S.) and Zander Epps (San Diego, Calif./Eastlake H.S.) were honored prior to the match and recorded key contributions in the victory.  DiMarco shared team-high honors with Chris Lockwood (Kailua, Hawaii/Poway [Calif.] H.S.) with 11 kills each while Epps hit .625 for the contest.
 
“Zander did a great job coming off of the bench tonight,” Reitz added.  “He served really well, and like the team as a whole, performed very efficiently.”
 
The opening set was tight throughout with nine ties and three lead changes.  With the match knotted at 20, Lourdes scored three straight points, two on kills by Frank Craig (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood H.S.) and another by DiMarco, to take control of the set.
 
In the second and third sets, Lourdes committed just four attack errors total, two in each set.  The Gray Wolves hit .556 in the second and raced out to a 6-0 lead and increased the advantage to 11-2 on the way to the win.  Lourdes held the Saints to just an .095 attack in the set.
 
Set three saw the Gray Wolves take an early lead and never let go of it.  Lourdes was in front 8-3 and kept the advantage between two and five points the rest of the match.
 
Steve Barcus (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon H.S.) handed out 20 assists while Trevor Lund (Laguna Hills, Calif./Laguna Hills H.S.) tallied eight digs, a team high, to go along with six kills and a .462 attack percentage.  Craig and DiMarco were each credited with three blocks.
 
Juan Paternina-Villero led Siena Heights (10-12, 2-10 MAMVIC East) with 16 kills while Brandon Bowers had six digs.
 
“We need to keep this momentum up and continue to improve heading into the conference tournament next weekend,” Reitz concluded.
 
Lourdes (14-10, 7-5) will return to the court April 5-6 at the MAMVIC East championships which will be held in Chicago, Ill.  The Gray Wolves will serve as the tournament's fourth seed for the event.  Official tournament pairings will be released later this week or early next week.