Lourdes continued its unbeaten start to 2013 on Saturday afternoon, posting a 25-20, 26-24, 25-22 victory over Cornerstone at Owens Community College to improve to 13-0 on the year and remain as one of just seven undefeated teams remaining in NAIA.
 
"This was a huge win for us against a quality team that was receiving votes in the national poll," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We served tough, played solid defense, and kept the ball off of the floor to extend rallies."
 
The opening set saw 13 ties and eight lead changes.  The Gray Wolves trailed 20-19 before scoring the final six points to earn the win.  Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.) registered a pair of aces and Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.) capped the set with her fifth kill of the set.
 
Lourdes fell behind 4-0 to start the second set before battling back to even the stanza at 10.  The Gray Wolves forged ahead 19-15 only to see the Golden Eagles tie things up at 20.  The teams traded sideouts until late when back-to-back kills by Stephanie Richards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) allowed Lourdes to capture a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
In the third, the Gray Wolves spotted the Golden Eagles a 6-0 lead before charging back.  Shonk started the comeback with three straight kills and Lourdes had the set even following a 7-1 run.  The spurt continued, extending to 16-6 as Lourdes took the lead 16-12.  Cornerstone made a late comeback, pulling to within one, 23-22, but back-to-back kills by Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty H.S.) capped the victory.
 
Shonk led the way offensively for Lourdes with 17 kills and hit .389 while Michi Jimenez (Vega Baja, P.R./Juan Quirindongo Morrell H.S.) tallied 28 digs in the three sets.
 
"We got some really solid performances from Michi and Molly today," Reitz added.
 
Ruffing added 14 kills while Richards chipped in 11 more for the Gray Wolves.  Meghan Birr (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores H.S.) registered a double-double with 40 assists and 12 digs.
 
Chelsea Lake led Cornerstone (11-6, 5-3 WHAC) with nine kills and 12 digs while Hope Leppink had 23 assists and 12 digs to record a double-double.
 
Lourdes (13-0, 8-0) will take to the road on Wednesday evening to battle Indiana Tech.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Schaefer Center Gymnasium in Fort Wayne, Ind.