Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball:  After back-to-back Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, 10th-ranked Lourdes heads to Sioux City, Iowa for the NAIA National Championship.  After earning an Opening Round bye, the Gray Wolves begin pool play on Tuesday facing #23 Corban, with matches against Morningside and #7 Park to follow on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his seventh season on the Lourdes bench, Greg Reitz has a 144-92 (.610) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  In his eighth season overall as a women's head coach, Reitz has a 163-127 (.562) career mark.  He is the only head coach in Lourdes program's history and was named WHAC Coach of the Year in 2015.

Series Notes: Lourdes has never faced Corban or Morningside in women's volleyball.  The Gray Wolves are 0-1 all-time against Park.  The Pirates claimed a 15-25, 26-24, 25-11, 25-16 victory over Lourdes earlier this year on Sept. 3 to conclude the Hampton Inn Classic played in Columbia, Mo.

Wrapping Up the WHAC Tournament: Led by 13 kills and 13 digs, Lourdes swept Davenport 25-19, 25-21, 25-12 on Nov. 11 in the WHAC semifinals.  The Gray Wolves hit .267 as a team as Meghan Birr handed out 33 assists.  In the championship on Nov. 12, Lourdes rallied from a set down to defeat #20 Cornerstone 19-25, 25-12, 25-16, 25-18.  Shonk had 18 kills and 19 digs while Birr had 42 assists and 13 digs.  Stef Comte hit .375 with 13 kills and Angelica Dippold tallied 18 digs.

Scouting Corban: The 23rd-ranked Warriors defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene 3-1 in the Opening Round of the NAIA National Championship on Nov. 19.  Amber Parker leads the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament runner-up with 448 kills, is hitting .227, and has a team-high 38 aces while Madison McLain has handed out 1,222 assists.  Haley Wells leads Corban with 498 digs while Alaina Gentili has registered 94 blocks.

Scouting Morningside: The Mustangs earned an automatic bid to Sioux City serving as the host institution for the championship.  Brittni Olson has a team-leading 315 kills and is hitting .319 and has recorded 156 blocks while Callie Alberico has handed out a team-high 514 assists.  Jessica Becker leads Morningside with 21 service aces while Nikki Oberfoell has a team-high 500 digs.  

Scouting Park: The seventh-ranked Pirates won the American Midwest Conference regular season title to earn an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship.  Wendy Romero leads Park with 535 kills, is hitting .356, and has tallied 66 aces while Danna Gomes has handed out 1,196 assists.  Daniela Duarte has tallied 522 digs defensively while Salma Shahtout has recorded a team-high 98 blocks.

Lourdes at the NAIA National Championship: Lourdes is making its third appearance all-time in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship in just the program's seventh season overall.  The Gray Wolves have a 2-3 all-time record in the tournament.  In the Gray Wolves' first appearance, Lourdes suffered a four-set loss at Georgetown (Ky.) in the Opening Round in 2013.  Last year, the Gray Wolves defeated Trinity Christian at home in the Opening Round.  In pool play, Lourdes lost to Hastings and Columbia (Mo.) before closing the action with a win over Mount Vernon Nazarene.

WHAC Honors: Meghan Birr was named the WHAC Setter of the Year for the second straight season after handing out 10.49 assists per set (1,112 total) and helping Lourdes hit .242 as a team.  Birr also was named First Team All-WHAC and joined teammates Stef Comte, Molly Shonk, and Ave Stout in earning the honor.  Stephanie Ruffing garnered Second Team All-WHAC accolades, as did Angelica Dippold, who also was named to the WHAC All-Freshman Team.

Among the Nation's Best: Lourdes ranks 17th in all of NAIA handing out 12.46 assists per set.  The Gray Wolves are also 17th in kills per set (13.51) and 20th in hitting percentage (.242).  The Gray Wolves rank 35th tallying 1.76 aces per set.  Individually, Ave Stout ranks 11th nationally hitting .365 in addition to Meghan Birr ranking 19th in assists per set (10.49).

Career Marks: Stephanie Richards holds the school's career kills record with 985 as well as the attack record (2,821).  Ave Stout is set to graduate with the career hitting percentage mark (.366), nearly 100 points ahead of second place.  Meghan Birr holds the assists mark by more than 1,000 with 2,480 during her two years at Lourdes.  Lexie Curtis has tallied a school record 160 service aces, most in school history.  Stef Comte has 317 blocks, 135 more than any other Gray Wolf ever.  With an appearance in all three pool play contests, Comte will also break Michi Jiminez's (2012-2015) record for matches played.  Comte enters the tournament having played in 130 contests over four years.

Single Season Blocking Record: Ave Stout has tied Andrea Brown's 2012 single season record with 94 total blocks in 2016.  Stout has also tied her own (2015) single season mark with 28 solo rejections this year.

Facing Ranked Opponents: Lourdes has already played nine NAIA Top-25 opponents in 2016, consisting of 29% of the team's schedule.  The Gray Wolves are 6-3 against ranked foes this year, improving their overall mark to 13-21.  Since the start of 2015, Lourdes has posted a 10-5 record versus ranked teams.

Facing the Tournament Field: Lourdes is 4-4 this season against the final field of 32 teams in Sioux City, having faced seven different opponents that qualified for the finals site.  The Gray Wolves went 1-1 against Columbia (Mo.) while also defeating Missouri Baptist, Georgetown (Ky.), and Madonna.  Lourdes fell to Doane, Park, and Dordt.

Perfect in the Ebeid Rec Center: Lourdes went a perfect 11-0 in the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center after the building opened this fall.  In fact, the Gray Wolves won 33 of the 35 sets they have played, and have won 27 home matches in a row dating back to 2014.

This and That: Molly Shonk has recorded nine consecutive double-doubles and has 17 on the season ... Meghan Birr has double-doubles in six of her last eight matches ... Lourdes has played eight nationally ranked teams this season (5-3) ... the Gray Wolves have played just one five-set match this season.