Lourdes University's volleyball team closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon suffering a pair of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference losses at the DU Student Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.  The Gray Wolves fell 27-25, 26-24, 25-22 to 15^th-ranked Davenport before dropping a 25-19, 25-13, 21-25, 25-21 decision to Aquinas in the second match.
 
In the first match of the day against Davenport, the Gray Wolves battled in each set before ultimately falling short.  The Panthers hit .283 for the match, committing just 10 attack errors on the afternoon.
 
"We didn't make the plays that we needed to make to win that match," head coach Greg Reitz stated afterwards.
 
Lourdes led 8-7 in the opening set before six straight points by Davenport gave the hosts the lead for good.  Trailing 24-21, the Gray Wolves tallied three straight points to extend the stanza, but the Panthers were able to put together three late kills to win 27-25. 
 
The Panthers led 18-11 in the second set before the Gray Wolves fought back.  Five kills from Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) keyed a 7-1 run to pull Lourdes within one, 19-18.  After falling behind again 22-19, five straight points by the Gray Wolves gave the guests a pair of set points.  Davenport responded with the next four points though to secure the win 26-24.
 
The Gray Wolves needed to fight back from behind again in the third set.  Trailing 12-7, Lourdes rallied to tie the set at 13 before eventually taking a 16-15 lead.  The Panthers answered, immediately retaking the lead before the sides traded points down the stretch.  Back-to-back attack errors ended the match.
 
Richards and Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) led the way with 14 kills each.  Richards hit .429 while Comte swung at a .3270 clip.  Mallory Lenhart (Lambertville, Mich./Bedford H.S.) handed out 37 assists and tallied 14 digs defensively while Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morrell H.S.) added a match-high 15 digs.
 
Krissy Dill hit .394 with 13 kills to pace Davenport (30-7, 19-2 WHAC) while also tallying 12 digs.
 
Lourdes hit just .070 in the second match of the day, a loss to Aquinas.  The Gray Wolves never led in the opening two sets.  The Saints jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the opening set and Lourdes never got closer than four points the rest of the stanza.  In the second, Aquinas led 15-11 before going on a 9-2 run to end the set, scoring the final six points.
 
The Gray Wolves never trailed in the third, hitting .213, their highest mark in the match.  Leading 12-10, four straight points by Lourdes allowed the Gray Wolves to build some breathing room and extend the match.  The Saints closed out the contest in the fourth though.  Trailing 11-10, Aquinas ran off eight straight points, aided by four straight attack errors from the Gray Wolves, and never looked back.
 
Richards led the Gray Wolves with 13 kills while Angie Pagan-Perez (Toa Baja, P.R./Bayamon Military Academy) added 12 more and Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.) handed out 32 assists.  Jimenez recorded 31 digs while Gabby Teifke (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.) added seven blocks defensively. 
 
Sierra VanTil led Aquinas (23-10, 15-7 WHAC) with 15 kills while Rachel Sprenger added 25 digs.
 
Lourdes (17-15, 12-10) will head to the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament next Friday and Saturday.  Official pairings will be released at a later time by the league office.