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Lourdes quest to end the 2015 season undefeated came to an end on Tuesday afternoon as the Gray Wolves dropped a 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 25-16 match to ninth-ranked Hastings in the first match of pool play at the NAIA National Championships held at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
 
"We didn't play our best volleyball today," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We didn't maintain the momentum throughout, and part of that is credit to Hastings."
 
The Gray Wolves were held to a season-low .085 hitting percentage and Hastings blocked 17 shot attempts on the day. 
 
"They are a big team and were very consistent with their blocking hands," Reitz added.  "That is something we have not been used to seeing."
 
The Broncos opened the match taking an early 13-7 lead, but the Gray Wolves battled back.  A kill by Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.) followed by a block from Ave Stout (Huntertown, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) and Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) pulled the Gray Wolves even at 16.  Hastings responded with the next four points, and seven of the next nine, to secure the opening set.
 
Lourdes never trailed in the second, racing out to a 6-2 lead.  Hastings tied the set at 12 before Lourdes retook the lead for good on an ace from Richards.  Lourdes extended the lead to 19-14, and evened the match at one with a kill from Stout.
 
Hastings (24-8) took the lead early in the third set with back-to-back blocks, and built a six-point advantage, 12-6.  Lourdes, ranked 17^th in the country, closed to within two, 13-11, after a block by Stout and Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy H.S.), but the Broncos slowly pulled away from there.
 
A kill from Shonk early in the fourth set put Lourdes in front 8-6 before Hastings tallied three straight points to take the lead.  The two schools traded sideouts until Lourdes led 13-12, but six unanswered points by the Broncos as part of an 11-2 run spelled the end of the undefeated run for the Gray Wolves.
 
"Our defense was scrappy at times today, but at others we didn't extend rallies long enough to get good looks," Reitz stated.
 
Ruffing led Lourdes offensively with 14 kills and notched her 11^th double-double of the year with 16 digs.  Richards added nine k ills and Shonk had eight for the Gray Wolves.  Meghan Birr (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores H.S.) handed out 36 assists while Richards and Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.) tallied three aces each.
 
Defensively, Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) posted a match-high 25 digs while Lourdes had just four blocks as a team.
 
Sage Miller led Hastings offensively with 14 kills while Logan Drueppel added 11 kills, hit .529, and tallied 11 blocks.  Jill Bax had a team-high 19 digs for the Broncos.
 
"We will see how we come back from losing a match," Reitz concluded.  "We will need to battle and win a match against the top team in our pool tomorrow if we want to make it out of pool play."
 
Lourdes (32-1) will face fourth-ranked Columbia (Mo.) on Wednesday afternoon, beginning at 2 p.m. EST at the Tyson Events Center.