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Lourdes opened up the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference volleyball slate on Wednesday evening with a three-set sweep of Marygrove, 25-11, 25-14, 25-15 at UD Jesuit High School in Detroit, Mich.
 
"It's always good to start conference play off with a win," head coach Greg Reitz stated.  "We played consistently throughout the match.  We gave up a few too many points at times, but I'll take the win on the road."
 
Lourdes hit .344 on the evening with 43 kills in the three sets.  Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty H.S.) tallied a match-high 13 kills while hitting .379.  With the win, the Gray Wolves remain unbeaten and continue the best start in program history.
 
The Gray Wolves held Marygrove to just four kills in the opening set, as the Mustangs hit -.071 in the stanza.  With Lourdes holding a slim 7-5 lead, services by Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) and Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morell H.S.) spearheaded an 8-2 Gray Wolf run, extending the lead to eight.  Another 6-1 spurt late pushed the advantage to 22-10, as Lourdes took the early lead in the match.
 
A .414 hitting percentage in the second set helped Lourdes build a 2-0 advantage in the match.  Trailing 8-6, the Gray Wolves went on a 13-1 run behind the service of Richards and Jimenez to seize control.  Ruffing recorded five of the Gray Wolves' 17 kills in the set on just seven swings without an error.
 
Lourdes committed just three errors in the final set on the way to completing the sweep.  The Gray Wolves raced out to an 8-2 lead and then went on a late 8-0 run behind the serve of Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.).  The junior tallied four aces during the run.
 
Richards, Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.), and Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.) each tallied eight kills to aid the Lourdes offense while Meghan Birr (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores H.S.) handed out  assists.  As a team Lourdes recorded 12 aces, including five from Curtis.
 
"We served extremely well and Meghan spread the offense around tonight," Reitz added.
 
Defensively, Richards led the Gray Wolves with 12 digs while Comte posted a team-high three blocks.
 
Ashley Murphy and Hailey Brandes led Marygrove (1-5, 0-1 WHAC) with five kills each while Erica Wilson recorded a team-best 10 digs.
 
Lourdes (5-0, 1-0) will return to Tam-o-Shanter on Saturday afternoon, stepping out of WHAC play for a battle with Spring Arbor in the team's home opener.  The opening serve is set for 1 p.m.