Seventh-ranked Lourdes University needed to rebound from an opening set loss on Thursday evening, but the Gray Wolves remained unbeaten on the 2015 campaign with a 23-25, 26-24, 25-16, 25-23 victory over Saint Xavier at the Shannon Center in Chicago, Ill.
 
"We didn't play at the level of consistency that we need to play at," head coach Greg Reitz stated.  "We were fortunate to get out of town with a victory.  Give them credit, they played well.  They did a good job of passing and playing defense and we made way too many hitting errors."
 
Saint Xavier came out poised for the upset, scoring four of the match's first five points before the Gray Wolves tied the set at five.  The Gray Wolves would lead briefly in the opening set before the Cougars responded, building a 17-14 lead.  Lourdes again fought back to tie the contest and eventually take the lead 23-22 before the hosts scored the final three points to take the opening set.  Lourdes aided Saint Xavier in the first set with five service errors while the Cougars hit .435.
 
Lourdes hit -.107 in the second set but managed to find a way to even the match.  The Cougars led 15-12 before a 6-1 Gray Wolf run put the guests on top.  A late 4-1 run by Saint Xavier gave the Cougars a set point at 24-23 but Kills by Julian Rivera (Bayamon, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) and Garrett Jones (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas H.S.) sandwiched a Saint Xavier error to give Lourdes the win. 
 
The Gray Wolves took control early in the third set to build a comfortable lead to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.  A 7-1 run put Lourdes in front 9-3 and the Gray Wolves maintained a six to nine point lead the rest of the set.  Lourdes bounced back in the third, hitting .367 as a team while Saint Xavier hit just .067.
 
The Cougars tried to force a decisive set, building an 11-7 lead in the fourth.  Jones served up a 6-0 run for the Gray Wolves to put Lourdes in front 17-12.  With Lourdes maintaining a 19-14 lead, Saint Xavier made one late run, pulling within one, 21-20.  The Gray Wolves would not surrender the lead though, closing the match on Jo'Lon Clark's (Compton, Calif./Long Beach Poly H.S.) matching-leading 20^th kill of the night.
 
Clark hit .325 for the evening while Frank Craig (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood H.S.) added 16 kills while hitting .300.  Amaury Miranda (Naranjito, P.R./Luis Munoz Marin H.S.) handed out 50 assists while CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.) tallied a match-high 12 digs.  Lourdes outdug the Cougars 41-26 for the night.
 
Sam Kull paced Saint Xavier (2-2, 0-2 GLC) with 17 kills on 30 swings for a .533 hitting percentage.  Sean Berry added 11 kills for the Cougars.
 
"Kull was extremely efficient for them tonight," Reitz added.
 
Lourdes (3-0, 2-0) will continue its six-match road trip on Friday as the Gray Wolves travel to Des Moines, Iowa to begin play at the Moulton Invitational.  The Gray Wolves will face event host, and top-ranked, Grand View at 4 p.m. EST before facing Graceland at 8:30 p.m. EST at the Ohana Sports Complex.