Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Lourdes moved into a tie for first place in the Great Lakes Conference on Friday afternoon, sweeping 10^th-ranked Cardinal Stritch to begin play at the Stritch Wolves Invitational held at Penella Court in Milwaukee, Wis.  The Gray Wolves then fell to ninth-ranked Missouri Valley in four sets in the second match of the day.
 
Lourdes earned a 25-18, 25-21, 25-15 win over Cardinal Stritch while Missouri Valley topped the Gray Wolves in non-conference action 24-26, 28-26, 25-17, 27-25.
 
The Gray Wolves opened the day avenging a five-set loss at home against Cardinal Stritch two weeks ago.  Frank Craig (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood H.S.) tallied 15 kills and hit .522 for the match while Jo'Lon Clark (Compton, Calif./Long Beach Poly H.S.) added 13 kills.  As a team Lourdes hit .344 for the match with Ryan Ferkel (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) handing out 39 assists.
 
Three straight service aces early in the opening set by CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.) set the tone for the match as the Gray Wolves raced out to an early 8-2 advantage.  Lourdes tallied 12 aces in all on the day, including four from Rilveria.  Lourdes maintained its lead throughout the opening set, extending it to 24-15.  The Wolves fought off three set points before the Gray Wolves closed out the set.  Lourdes hit .480 in the opening stanza with 15 kills on 25 swings.
 
Set two was much closer throughout.  Lourdes held a slim 16-15 lead before going on a 7-3 run to seize control.  The Gray Wolves again hit well, at a .355 clip, with Craig tallying seven kills over his eight swings.
 
The serve of Rilveria and Julian Rivera (Bayamon, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) helped the Gray Wolves take a quick 9-3 lead in the third.  The Gray Wolves extended the advantage to 21-12 before closing out the match with back-to-back aces from Clark to complete the sweep.
 
Brad Miller (Convoy, Ohio/Crestview H.S.) led the defense with 10 digs as the Gray Wolves outdug Cardinal Stritch 35-31 on the afternoon.
 
Noah Mader led Cardinal Stritch (7-6, 5-1 GLC) with eight kills while Patrick Ronan had seven digs.  As a team the Wolves hit .229 for the day.
 
The second match of the day was close throughout, with three of the four sets going into extra points.  Lourdes trailed 22-19 in set one before four straight kills, two by Clark and two by Chris Lockwood (San Diego, Calif./Poway H.S.), but the Gray Wolves on top.  Lockwood and Craig then provided the final two kills for the victory.
 
Set two saw 17 ties and five lead changes between the two schools.  Lourdes led 20-16 before the Vikings fought back with a 7-1 run to take the lead.  The two sides traded sideouts from 23-22 until Missouri Valley tallied back-to-back kills to even the match, winning 28-26.
 
A 7-1 run by the Vikings in the third allowed Missouri Valley to take a 21-12 lead on the way to the victory.  The final set was again close, with 13 ties in it.  Lourdes led early 6-2 before the Vikings tied the set at 10.  Missouri Valley led 19-16 before the Gray Wolves battled back to force extra points, only to come up short.
 
Clark led Lourdes with 25 kills while hitting .500.  Garrett Jones (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas H.S.) added 15 kills and Lockwood had 10 more as the Gray Wolves hit .270 for the match.  Ferkel handed out 54 assists.  Miller tallied 12 digs defensively.
 
Thomas Brandstatter and Stan Bosovik led Missouri Valley (11-5) with 12 kills each while Ding Hui tallied a match-high 16 digs for the Vikings.
 
Lourdes (8-2, 5-1) will close out play at the Wolves Invitational on Saturday with two more matches.  The Gray Wolves will face seventh-ranked Clarke at 12:30 p.m. EST before battling Robert Morris (Ill.) at 5 p.m. EST.