Lourdes University began a two-match home swing on Wednesday evening, but the Gray Wolves suffered a 25-23, 19-25, 27-25, 27-25 loss to Indiana Tech at Tam-o-Shanter.
 
The opening set proved to be one of runs, as the Warriors opened with a 9-5 lead.  Behind the serves of Courtney Schroyer (Ottawa Lake, Mich./Whiteford H.S.), b (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.), and Lisa Urbanski (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.), the Gray Wolves responded with an 11-4 spurt to take the lead 16-13.  The lead was short-lived, however, as eight straight points by Indiana Tech put the visitors on top 22-16.  Lourdes tried to rally late, as back-to-back service aces by Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) helped pull the Gray Wolves to within one, but they were never able to tie the set back up.
 
Lourdes never trailed in the second set on the way to evening the match.  Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) tallied a pair of aces during an early 6-0 run by Lourdes to put the hosts on top by eight.  Indiana Tech scored eight of the next nine points to close to within one, 13-12, but that was as close as the Warriors would get in the stanza.  Lourdes hit .222, committing just three errors, while forcing Indiana Tech into 10 attack miscues.
 
The Gray Wolves raced out to a 9-3 lead in the third behind the serve of Jimenez but Indiana Tech battled back.  A 7-2 run tied the set at 13, one of eight ties in the stanza.  Lourdes kept the Warriors from taking the lead, and had a pair of set points at 24-22, but the Warriors fought them off with three straight points, and eventually pulled out the 27-25 win.
 
In the fourth set there were 14 ties as neither team could build an advantage of more than three points.  Indiana Tech held a 23-20 lead, only to see the Gray Wolves tie the set behind back-to-back kills from Richards.  The two sides traded side outs over the next five points before a Warrior block ended the match in extra points.
 
"You have to give Indiana Tech credit tonight," head coach Greg Reitz stated.  "They controlled the ball in transition to give their middles a lot of attempts.  They were very efficient at that position and that hurt us."
 
Richards led Lourdes with 18 kills and 16 digs for her team-leading third double-double of the season while hitting .245.  Angie Pagan-Perez (Toa Baja, P.R./Bayamon Military Academy) added 13 kills while Jimenez tallied a team-high 24 digs for the Gray Wolves.  Urbanski added 11 digs.
 
Shanice Richards led Indiana Tech (9-7, 4-4 WHAC) with 19 kills while hitting .516 and Stacy Nagy hit .355 with 16 kills.  Taylor Kelso led all players with 25 digs defensively for the Warriors.
 
Lourdes (9-9, 5-4) will remain home on Friday evening as the Gray Wolves host 25^th-ranked Davenport.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Tam-o-Shanter.