Lourdes needed less than an hour to begin defense of its Great Lakes Conference tournament title on Friday morning, as the sixth-ranked Gray Wolves defeated Trinity International 25-13, 25-16, 25-15 in the quarterfinals at Presidents Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 
"We got off to the right start in the tournament," head coach Greg Reitz stated after the win.  "We did what we needed to do.  We served and passed well and our serve got them into some trouble."
 
Frank Craig (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood H.S.) and Sean Labriola (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot H.S.) each tallied 10 kills in the match, with Labriola hitting .643 for the contest.
 
Leading 11-8 in the opening set, Lourdes went on a 9-2 run to pull away.  The Gray Wolves hit .550 in set one with 14 kills on just 20 swings.
 
Set two saw the Gray Wolves slowly extend its lead throughout.  Lourdes never trailed in the set, but never scored more than four consecutive points in the stanza as well.
 
Lourdes hit .562 with 11 kills on 16 swings in the final set while holding the Trojans to -.045 hitting.  CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.) and Bryan Downs (Mount Vernon H.S.) served the Gray Wolves to a 12-2 lead and Lourdes never looked back.
 
The Gray Wolves hit .451 for the match with 41 kills and just nine errors on 71 attempts.  Amaury Miranda (Naranjito, P.R./Luis Munoz Marin H.S.) handed out 34 assists.  Miranda and Julian Rivera (Bayamon, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) each added a pair of aces as well.
 
Defensively, Rilveria and Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) led the Gray Wolves with four digs while Miranda and Jaryn Kuhaulua-Feiteira (Waihe'e, Hawaii/Maui H.S.) were both involved in a team-high three blocks.
 
David Priest led eighth-seeded Trinity International (0-23) with 12 kills and six digs as the Trojans hit just .087 for the match.
 
Lourdes (19-8) advances to Saturday's first semifinal match against the winner of fourth-seeded Saint Xavier and fifth-seeded Siena Heights.  First serve is set for 11 a.m. at Presidents Hall, with the championship contest slated for Saturday night at 6 p.m.