Lourdes University continued Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon, dropping a pair of matches at the SHU Fieldhouse in Adrian, Mich.  The Gray Wolves fell 29-31, 25-15, 26-24, 18-25, 15-10 to 16^th-ranked Madonna in the opener before falling 13-25, 26-24, 28-26, 25-23 against host Siena Heights in the second contest.
 
"I felt we played well against Madonna, but we just didn't take advantage of a couple opportunities when we had them," head coach Greg Reitz said after the match.  "You can't leave points on the table against a quality opponent like that."
 
The Gray Wolves never trailed in the opening set against Madonna, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead.  The advantage grew to six, 9-3, following a kill by Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) before the Crusaders battled back.  A 6-1 Madonna run tied the set at 14 before Lourdes retook the lead with four straight points of its own.  The Gray Wolves led 23-18 before the Crusaders battled back yet again, and eventually tied the set at 24.  The teams traded sideouts until back-to-back errors gave Lourdes the 31-29 win.
 
Madonna took control from the start in set two, scoring 10 of the first 11 points.  The lead grew to as many as 10 before Lourdes closed to within seven, 17-10.  The Gray Wolves were not able to overcome Madonna's .357 hitting in the stanza though, as the Crusaders committed just one error.
 
The third was close throughout with Madonna taking an 11-7 lead.  Lourdes fought back to tie the set at 16 before the Crusaders responded with four straight points.  Madonna led 23-18 before the Gray Wolves again battled back, tying the set at 24 on a kill from Angie Pagan-Perez (Toa Baja, P.R./Bayamon Military Academy).  The Crusaders answered with a kill of its own followed by a Lourdes attack error to close the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Lourdes took the lead 5-4 in the fourth set and never looked back.  Six straight points during Michi Jimenez's (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) serve pushed the advantage to 16-10, and the lead eventually grew to eight 20-12.  Back-to-back kills by Erin O'Neil (Midland, Mich./Dow H.S.) and Richards forced the deciding set for the second straight match between the two foes.
 
The Crusaders scored the first two points of the final stanza on the way to a 5-1 lead and the Gray Wolves were never able to recover.  Lourdes cut the deficit to 9-7 but four straight points by Madonna secured the win.
 
Richards led Lourdes with 22 kills and 15 digs while Mallory Lenhart (Lambertville, Mich./Bedford H.S.) also had a double-double with 25 assists and 19 digs.  Lisa Urbanski (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) tallied a team-high 25 digs for the gray Wolves while Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) was in on six blocks. 
 
"We got some great defensive play," Reitz added.  "I thought we did a pretty good job in serve receiving as well."
 
Casey Gates led Madonna (27-5, 12-2 WHAC) with 20 kills and 17 digs while Amanda Obrycki tallied 29 digs.  Spencer Stokes dished out 50 assists and added 16 digs for the Crusaders.
 
In the afternoon against Siena Heights, Lourdes came out attacking, hitting .476 in the opening set.  The Gray Wolves raced out to a 10-3 lead.  A 6-0 run behind Lenhart's serve pushed the lead to 20-9 and the Gray Wolves won the opener 25-13.
 
Lourdes took an early 10-5 lead in the second set and increased the advantage to six, 19-13.  The Saints rallied with six straight points to tie the set, before the Gray Wolves rebuilt a 24-22 lead.  Facing two set points against them, Siena Heights tallied three straight kills as part of a 4-0 run to earn the win in extra points.
 
Urbanski spearheaded a 5-0 Lourdes run with a pair of aces in the third set to put the Gray Wolves on top 14-9.  The Gray Wolves maintained their edge late into the set until three straight points by the Saints evened things up at 21.  The two sides traded sideouts until a late kill followed by a Gray Wolf error gave Siena Heights the 28-26 win to put the hosts on top 2-1 in the match.
 
Siena Heights took the lead early in the fourth set before Lourdes tied it at eight.  A 4-1 run by the Saints prevented the Gray Wolves from taking the lead, as the advantage eventually grew to four.  Trailing 22-18, Lourdes tried to claw back, pulling within one at 24-23 before the Saints pulled out the win.
 
Richards led Lourdes with 24 kills while Pagan-Perez added 15 more.  Jimenez added a match-high 29 digs while Lenhart had her second double-double of the day with 27 assists and 11 digs.
 
Leze Vukaj led Siena Heights (11-8, 8-7) with 15 kills while hitting .406 and Nicole Morgan added 28 digs defensively.  Carly Tilotson handed out 43 assists to go along with 14 digs.
 
"They definitely won the serve and pass game today, and that was a big difference in the match," Reitz said.
 
Lourdes (12-12, 8-7) will close out its six-match road trip on Wednesday evening, traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich. to face Concordia (Mich.).  Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. at Cardinal Fieldhouse.