Cornerstone Photo Gallery
Northwestern Ohio Photo Gallery

Lourdes wrapped up the home portion of its 2014 season on Saturday afternoon, splitting a pair of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference matches.  The Gray Wolves defeated Cornerstone 28-26, 25-18, 25-13 in the morning before dropping a five-set thriller to Northwestern Ohio 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 19-17 in the afternoon.
 
In the morning match against Cornerstone, Lourdes rallied from behind in the opening set before cruising in the finale.  Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) tallied 18 kills while hitting .375 and Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) tallied 23 digs as the Gray Wolves avenged a three-set loss to the Golden Eagles earlier this season in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"This was a huge win for us, especially after we had to come back in the opening set," head coach Greg Reitz stated.  "We then put our best performance forward in the third set, where in the past we have been known to let up a bit."
 
Lourdes trailed 21-17 in the opening set before battling back.  A service ace from Angie Pagan-Perez (Toa Baja, P.R./Bayamon Military Academy) pulled the Gray Wolves to within one, 22-21, before a Cornerstone error tied the set.  The Golden Eagles rebuilt a 24-22 lead before a kill from Richards and an ace from Jimenez forced extra points.  Trailing 26-25, Lourdes tied the set again on a bad set before back-to-back kills by Richards gave the Gray Wolves the win.
 
Lourdes never trailed in the second set, which was tight most of the way.  The Gray Wolves took an early 8-4 lead before Cornerstone fought back to tie the stanza at 14 following three straight points.  Leading 18-17, Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) tallied a kill before Richards added two more to push the lead back to four.  Richards ended the set with two kills as well, giving her six in each of the first two stanzas.
 
"Steph Richards took a couple of key swings for us," Reitz added.  "We did a good job of extending rallies and ended up winning them on our swings, which is something we haven't always done."
 
The Gray Wolves took control in the third set with an early 6-2 run keyed by an ace from Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.) followed by two more from Pagan-Perez.  Lourdes took advantage of 11 attack errors by Cornerstone in the set, and a 6-0 run off of the serve of Mallory Lenhart (Lambertville, Mich./Bedford H.S.) pushed the advantage to 20-9 and the Gray Wolves never looked back.
 
Lourdes hit .212 for the match, committing just five errors over the final two sets.  Lenhart handed out 30 assists while adding 10 digs defensively for a double-double while Curtis added 11 more digs.  Pagan-Perez had three of the Gray Wolves' eight aces in the match.
 
Megan Newhouse led Cornerstone (23-10, 10-8 WHAC) with 11 kills and 16 dis.  The Golden Eagles hit just .103 for the match after posting a -.200 mark in the third set.
 
In the afternoon, Lourdes found itself down two sets to none.  Northwestern Ohio hit .395 in the opening set, committing just one error, and the Gray Wolves never led the entire stanza.  The Racers used an 8-3 run midway through the second to build a 17-12 lead.  Lourdes cut its deficit to two, 22-20 late before Northwestern Ohio closed out the set.
 
The third set was quite a battle with 14 ties and eight lead changes.  The Gray Wolves forced 10 attack errors from UNOH, two of which came on the final 4-0 run as Lourdes broke a 21-21 tie.  Lourdes led from start to finish in the fourth, building a 17-11 lead.  The Racers clawed back to within one, 20-19, but back-to-back kills from Carolyn Manley (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.) and Pagan-Perez extended the lead.  Three straight attack errors from Northwestern Ohio forced the fifth set.
 
The fifth set was a true battle.  Neither team led by more than two the entire set.  Lourdes had two match points up 14-12.  The Racers answered with three straight points, two kills by Megan Fullenkamp sandwiched around an ace from Bec Bimrose.  Lourdes then fought off three set points from UNOH before Stephanie Hanewold's kill ended the match.
 
"We showed a lot of heart and resiliency playing five sets after being down," Reitz commented.  "Unfortunately we left too many points on the court at key times."
 
Pagan-Perez led the way for Lourdes with 19 kills and 17 digs while Manley added 12 more kills.  Comte had 11 kills and hit .310 while Lenhart handed out 50 assists and tallied 18 digs.  Jimenez posted a team-high 24 digs.
 
"We served and passed well in the match," Reitz concluded.  "I thought we attacked well, but just not well enough."
 
Chanel Cantere led Northwestern Ohio (24-9, 16-3 WHAC) with 18 kills and 22 digs while Fullenkamp hit .308 and added 17 kills.  Hanewold hit .409 on 22 swings with 10 kills.
 
Lourdes (16-13, 11-8) will take to the road to begin its final trip of the season on Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves travel to Fort Wayne, Ind.  The opening serve against Indiana Tech is set for 7 p.m. at the Schaefer Center Gymnasium.