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Lourdes captured its second consecutive Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference volleyball tournament title on Saturday, defeating 20^th-ranked Cornerstone 19-25, 25-12, 25-16, 25-18 at the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
The victory capped an undefeated (11-0) home season for the 10th-ranked Gray Wolves (11-0), and extended Lourdes' home win streak overall to 27 matches.  Lourdes last lost at home Nov. 1, 2014 when playing in Tam-o-Shanter.  The victory also snapped Cornerstone's 22-match win streak this season, as the Golden Eagles' last prior loss also came to the Gray Wolves at the Ebeid Rec Center on Sept. 21.
 
"This was a huge win for this team, this season, and this program," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "After the first half of the first set we played a really strong match today."
 
Cornerstone (32-8) started the match quick, jumping out to an early 13-4 lead.  The Gray Wolves battled back, closing to within four, 22-18, before dropping just their second set at home all season.
 
In the second, Lourdes took a quick 8-2 lead only for the Golden Eagles to answer with four points of their own.  Lourdes got on service runs from Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy), Carolyn Manley (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.), and Shannon Fischer (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy), and scored 13 of the next 15 points to take control.  The Gray Wolves had 19 kills in the stanza and hit .485 as a team.
 
"We had some servers get on streaks where they had a tough time siding out," Reitz added.  "We were able to score some points, and at one point in the third set they needed two timeouts to get out of a rotation."
 
The service of Meghan Birr (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores H.S.) and Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.) propelled the Gray Wolves to a 12-1 lead.  Cornerstone made a small run late, but three of the Golden Eagles' eight attack errors came in the final four points of the set.
 
The fourth set again saw Lourdes race out to a quick lead, 10-5, before the Golden Eagles tied the stanza, and eventually took the lead 13-12.  The Gray Wolves responded with four straight points, including a pair of aces from Comte, and would not rail the rest of the way.  Back-to-back kills by Comte, who finished with 13 for the match, closed out the championship.
 
Shonk tallied her ninth straight double-double, recording match-highs with 18 kills and 19 digs.  Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty H.S.) added 12 kills while Genessee Tate (West Covina, Calif./West Covina H.S.)  and Ave Stout (Huntertown, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) each had eight kills.  Birr handed out 42 assists as the Gray Wolves hit .257 for the match.
 
Birr also tallied a double-double with 13 digs defensively while Angelica Dippold (Louisville, Ky./Mercy Academy) added 18 digs as the Gray Wolves outdug Cornerstone 73-59.
 
"We played some really strong defense today," Reitz added.  "We kept a number of rallies alive and turned a great number into points."
 
Heather Green led Cornerstone with 14 kills while Mackenzie Vallad had 14 digs for the Golden Eagles.
 
Lourdes (26-5) has earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships, which will include a field of 44 teams.  Twenty-four teams will compete in 12 opening round matches on Nov. 19, with the top 20 seeds (including the finals site host) will receive an opening round bye.    The opening round winners will join the 20 teams that received a bye in Sioux City, Iowa beginning Nov. 29 for a 32-team, pool play tournament.  The top two teams from each pool advance to single elimination play beginning on Dec., with the championship slated for Dec. 3.  The official tournament pairings will be announced on Monday (Nov. 14) at 11 a.m.