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Lourdes University posted a perfect record in the month of February after winning their sixth consecutive match on Saturday afternoon, defeating Culver-Stockton 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 25-19 at Tam-o-Shanter.
 
The six straight wins match the longest winning streak in program history, a feat that has been accomplished twice, most recently from Jan. 17-31, 2014.
 
In the opening set, 10^th-ranked Lourdes used a 12-2 run to open up a 10-point advantage, 18-8 on the way to taking an early lead in the match.  The Gray Wolves held the Wildcats to .000 hitting in the first stanza and registered five blocks defensively.
 
Set two was much closer, with eight ties and five lead changes.  Trailing 16-15, Lourdes took advantage of four Culver-Stockton attack errors as part of a 5-1 run to take the lead for good.  The Gray Wolves led 24-20 and needed all four set points to put the set away, finally doing so on a Wildcat service error.
 
Trailing 8-4 early in the third, Lourdes battled back to take an 11-10 lead following a service ace from Amaury Miranda (Naranjito, P.R./Luis Munoz Marin H.S.).  Despite 10 ties in the set, the Gray Wolves maintained a slim advantage, holding a 20-19, lead when Culver-Stockton scored four of the next five points.  Lourdes closed to within one, 23-22, before a kill and a block extended the match for the Wildcats, and ended the Gray Wolves string of consecutive sets won at 17 in a row.
 
Lourdes took control from the start in the fourth set, scoring the first three points, and never trailed while closing out the match.  The lead grew to four, 10-6, before Culver-Stockton answered, tying the set at 10 following back-to-back Gray Wolf errors.  The Gray Wolves led 18-16 before scoring five straight points off of the serve of CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.), taking control 23-16, before closing the match.
 
Jo'Lon Clark (Compton, Calif./Long Beach Poly H.S.) led Lourdes with 16 kills while hitting .406 in the match and Frank Craig (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood H.S.) added 15 kills offensively.  Miller tallied a match-high 16 digs defensively while Bryan Downs (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon H.S.) added 11 more.  Austin Stout (Huntertown, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) and Sean Labriola (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot H.S.) were each involved in six of Lourdes' 13 blocks on the day.
 
The Gray Wolves hit .174 on the day with four aces offensively.
 
"Overall our ball control was good most of the match, but we made some unforced errors at times that cost us points," head coach Greg Reitz stated.  "We distributed the ball well early, saw it break down, but were
 
Josh Farley led Culver-Stockton (6-15) with 14 kills while Riley Keleher added 11 digs for the Wildcats.  Steve Battaglia was involved in eight of the Wildcats' 14 blocks on the afternoon.
 
Lourdes (9-4) will continue its five-match homestand on Tuesday evening as the Gray Wolves host Cardinal Stritch.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Tam-o-Shanter.