Lourdes began the second half of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Wednesday evening, sweeping Marygrove 25-20, 25-13, 25-23 at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit, Mich. as the Gray Wolves won their second straight match to open a six-match road trip.
 
With the victory, the Gray Wolves improve to 12-0 all-time against the Mustangs, and have moved into a three-way tie for second place in the WHAC standings.
 
"All in all this was a good win on the road," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We hit really well the first two sets and that helped set the tone."
 
Lourdes hit .248 in the victory, posting 52 kills over the three sets.  Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) led all players with 13 kills without an error while hitting .565 on the evening.  Her hitting percentage is the third best for a match in school history for players with 20 or more attempts.  Angie Pagan-Perez (Toa Baja, P.R./Bayamon Military Academy) added 11 kills in the win.
 
"Stef hit extremely well," Reitz added.  "To not have an error with 13 kills is outstanding."
 
The two schools traded sideouts throughout the opening set, with neither team leading by more than one point until Sam Dibert (Hartland, Mich./Hartland H.S.) put down a kill to give Lourdes a 12-10 advantage.  Marygrove battled back, retaking the lead 16-15, before a 9-3 run by the Gray Wolves gave the guest control of the set which featured 13 ties and four lead changes.  Lourdes tallied 18 kills and hit .277 in the opening stanza.
 
In the second, Lourdes hit a blistering .375 with 19 kills and just four errors, while never trailing the entire way.  An 7-1 run which featured all kills, pushed the advantage to 18-8 as the Gray Wolves were able to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set saw 14 ties and six lead changes before the Gray Wolves were able to secure the match.  Lourdes built a 24-21 lead before holding off a late Marygrove charge to close the set.
 
Mallory Lenhart (Lambertville, Mich./Bedford H.S.) handed out 31 assists while adding seen kills as part of a .583 hitting night for the Gray Wolves' setter.  Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) tallied a match-high 24 digs while Lisa Urbanski (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) added 14 digs.
 
"Mal set really well," Reitz concluded.  "We started in a six-two and went to a five-one the final two sets and she did a great job all night."
 
Ashley Murphy paced Marygrove (4-16, 1-11 WHAC) with 10 kills while Kara Kempinski tallied a team-leading 15 digs.
 
Lourdes (11-10, 7-5) will have a week off before returning to the court next Wednesday as the Gray Wolves continue their six-match road trip in Southfield, Mich.  First serve against Lawrence Tech is set for 7 p.m. at the Ridler Fieldhouse.