Facing its first ranked opponent in 2014, Lourdes pushed 25^th-ranked Davenport to four sets before dropping a 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19 decision to the Panthers on Friday evening at Tam-o-Shanter.
 
"I thought we competed well tonight, but when we get to the 30 error range offensively, that is just too high," head coach Greg Reitz stated.  "We missed some serves at key times as well."
 
The opening set was one of runs as Davenport raced out to a 10-3 lead.  Lourdes battled back to tie the set at 12 before the Panthers scored the next five points to retake the lead.  Again the Gray Wolves clawed back, tying the stanza at 22 following three straight kills from Carolyn Manley (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.).  Davenport responded with three straight kills of their own though to take the early lead in the match.
 
Four straight points off of the serve of Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.), including a pair of aces, gave Lourdes the quick advantage in the second set and the Gray Wolves never trailed the entire way.  Davenport closed to within two, 19-17, but a kill from Erin O'Neil (Midland, Mich./Dow H.S.) and an ace from Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) extended the lead back to four, ultimately allowing the Gray Wolves to even the match.
 
Lourdes raced out to an early 7-2 lead in the third, and built the lead to as many as six, 13-7, before the Panthers battled back.  An 8-2 run tied the set at 15 and the teams remained within a point of each other until the set was tied at 21.  Davenport scored two straight points to give the Panthers the separation they needed in pulling out the two-point victory.
 
The Gray Wolves led early in the fourth as well, taking advantage of some early attack errors by the guest.  Leading 9-5, Lourdes maintained a lead until three straight Panther points tied the set at 14.  Davenport took the lead for good at 17-16 and allowed just three points the rest of the way.
 
Manley led Lourdes with 15 kills while hitting .355 while Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) added 13 kills and 11 digs for her second straight double-double.  Angie Pagan-Perez (Toa Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) added 11 kills as well for the Gray Wolf offense which hit .142 on the night.
 
Comte finished with four aces while Curtis added three more to go along with her 29 assists.  Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) registered 23 digs to pace the defense.
 
Hannah Stone hit .500 with 17 kills for Davenport (14-4, 9-1 WHAC) while Molly Lameyer added 13 kills to go along with a .417 hitting night.  Amber Getty handed out 43 assists for the Panthers while Krissy Dill led the defense with 15 digs.
 
Lourdes (9-10, 5-5) will close out the first half of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon, traveling to ninth-ranked Madonna.  First serve is set for 1 p.m. at The Activities Center in Livonia, Mich.