Lourdes won its first national tournament match in program history on Saturday evening, defeating Trinity Christian 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 at Savage Arena in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, and earned the right to advance to Sioux City, Iowa as one of the final 24 teams in the country vying for the national crown.
 
"We are excited to be among the final 24 teams remaining," head coach Greg Reitz said after the win.  "We got such great support tonight, with our student section getting so involved to help our players.  The crowd was incredible."
 
Lourdes, ranked 17^th in the nation, remained the lone undefeated team in the country, and has now won 96 of the 107 sets in which the team has played this season.
 
The opening set was tight throughout, with the Trolls holding a 12-10 lead before the Gray Wolves went on an 8-1 run, capped with a service ace from Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.).  Lourdes slowly extended its lead the remainder of the set, capping the stanza with a block by Richards and Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.).
 
Lourdes had to battle from behind in the second set, a stanza which saw 11 ties and three lead changes.  With the set tied at 18, the Trolls scored three straight points to pull in front.  The Gray Wolves wasted little time evening the set at 22 following kills from Comte and Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.).  After Lourdes fell behind 23-22, a service error event things up and back-to-back kills by Richards and Shonk put the Gray Wolves on top two sets to none.
 
With the win in set two, Lourdes remained undefeated in the second set of matches all season long.  Both teams hit over .300 in the frame (Trinity Christian .306, Lourdes .314).
 
Lourdes took an early lead in the third set, only to see four straight points by Trinity Christian give the visitors a 9-6 edge.  Richards served up an ace as part of a 5-0 Gray Wolf run and Lourdes never trailed the rest of the match.  The Trolls tied the set at 15, but Lourdes quickly rebuilt its advantage on the way to remaining undefeated on the season.
 
The Gray Wolves hit a match-high .333 in the third, tallying 20 kills while adding 22 digs in the set.
 
Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty H.S.) and Shonk led Lourdes with 13 kills each, with Ruffing hitting .312 with 15 digs as well for her double-double.  Meghan Birr (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores H.S.) handed out 41 assists while Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) tallied a match-high 16 digs.
 
Kacie Stoll led Trinity Christian (23-17) with 13 kills while Michelle Busscher had 12 digs defensively.
 
Lourdes (32-0) will head into NAIA National Championship pool play Dec. 1-3 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.  Pool play pairings will be announced Sunday evening (Nov. 22).  The Gray Wolves are assured of three matches in the next round of the tournament.
 
"We need to get ready for whatever comes our way," Reitz added.  "We're excited for the challenge ahead."