Lourdes University capped off a perfect 28-0 regular season on Saturday afternoon with a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Davenport and Aquinas at Tam-o-Shanter to capture the outright Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference title, the first in program history.
 
The 18^th-ranked Gray Wolves downed Davenport 25-19, 25-9, 25-23 in the morning match before sweeping the Saints 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 in the regular season finale.
 
"This marked the end of an incredible regular season," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We played well in both matches and had some phenomenal performances in each one.  Now we have to go back to work beginning next weekend if we want to have a successful postseason."
 
Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Quirindongo Morell H.S.) and Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty H.S.) were in the spotlight in the opener against Davenport.  Jimenez surpassed 2,000 digs for her career in the third set, and holds the school's career record for the category.  She had a match-high 14 digs in the contest.
 
Ruffing finished with 24 kills and 12 digs in the match against the Panthers, hitting .688 in the process.  Through two sets the junior had 17 kills on 19 swings, hitting at an astonishing .895 clip.
 
Both teams had outstanding hitting performances in the opening set with Lourdes swinging at a .410 clip with 20 kills while Davenport registered 13 kills and hit .414.  In the second stanza, Lourdes scored the first eight points, seven coming via Jimenez's serve, while also tallying a late 9-0 run on the service of Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.), including a pair of aces.
 
The final stanza was close as Lourdes led 18-13 only to see Davenport rally with six straight points to take a 19-18 lead.  Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.) added a pair of aces though to put the Gray Wolves back on top for good and a kill by Richards closed the match.
 
Meghan Birr (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores H.S.) handed out 36 assists for the Gray Wolves as Lourdes hit .345 in the match.
 
Marcey Dehaan led Davenport (20-18, 12-9 WHAC) with 10 kills while Morgan Torres tallied 10 digs defensively.
 
Ruffing added a match-high 14 kills against Aquinas while Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.) tallied a double-double with 11 kills and 21 digs in the sweep.  Ave Stout (Huntertown, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) also had 11 kills on just 18 swings, hitting at a .556 clip.
 
A 9-1 run in the opening set gave Lourdes a 15-7 lead, an advantage they would not surrender.  Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) had seven kills on seven swings in the set to pace Lourdes.  The Gray Wolves had to battle back from an early deficit in the second set, and the stanza was close throughout.  Aquinas trailed just 19-18, but was never able to even the set.
 
Lourdes raced out to a 16-7 lead in the third frame, holding the Saints to just a .116 hitting percentage, while securing the undefeated season. 
 
Birr handed out 41 assists while helping Lourdes hit .262 for the match while Jimenez added 19 digs defensively.  Richards also had 16 digs for the Gray Wolves.
 
Michaela Ryan and Cammy Means led Aquinas (20-15, 11-11) with 10 kills each while Katlyn Agren added 15 digs.
 
Lourdes (28-0, 22-0) will host the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament at Tam-o-Shanter beginning with the quarterfinal round next Friday evening.