Lourdes dropped its first two matches of the 2015 season on Friday, falling to #1 Grand View and Graceland in the Molten Invitational held at the Ohana Sports Complex in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
The Gray Wolves suffered a 25-16, 25-15, 25-17 loss to Grand View while dropping a 26-28, 25-20, 9-25, 25-20, 12-15 setback to Graceland.
 
In the opener against top-ranked Grand View, Lourdes hit just .105 on the afternoon in the three set loss.
 
"We didn't step up to the level needed to compete against a team of their caliber," head coach Greg Reitz stated after the match.  "We passed well, but not as well as they did, and that allowed them to create more opportunities."
 
Frank Craig (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood H.S.) led Lourdes with 16 kills while Jo'Lon Clark (Compton, Calif./Long Beach Poly H.S.) added 10 more.  Clark and Steve Barcus (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon H.S.) led the Gray Wolves defensively with five digs each.
 
"Frank and Jo performed well," Reitz added.  "We just needed others to step up as well."
 
Pedro Cardoso led Grand View (6-1) with 14 kills while Felipe Rosa added three aces, 15 assists, and six blocks.
 
In the evening match against Graceland, the two schools split sets and Lourdes led 18-12 in the third when the Gray Wolves were called for a lineup violation which forced them to forfeit their points to date.  After then trailing 12-0, they were unable to rally for the win.  Lourdes won the fourth set though to force the deciding set, falling just short.
 
"Talk about a frustrating loss," Reitz stated after the night match.  "I take the blame for the error on the lineup sheet, but I'm not sure the ruling was applied correctly.  There is nothing we can do now though.  We didn't play great and missed three big serves in the fifth set."
 
Craig led the Gray Wolves with 20 kills while Amaury Miranda (Naranjito, P.R./Luis Munoz Marin H.S.) handed out 47 assists.  Miranda also registered 21 digs defensively while Sean Labriola (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot H.S.) registered 10 blocks.
 
Lourdes (3-2) will conclude its road trip on Saturday with the final two games of the Molten Invitational.  The Gray Wolves with face sixth-ranked Hope International at 11:30 a.m. EST before battling ninth-ranked Saint Ambrose at 3:30 p.m. EST.