Photo Gallery

Despite taking the opening set on Tuesday evening, 10^th-ranked Lourdes suffered a 23-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-22 setback to 23^rd-ranked Corban to open pool play at the NAIA National Championship held at the Tyson Event Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
 
"We made a lot of errors, which against a quality opponent like Corban, you can't make," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We didn't play anything close to a clean match.  We gave them 40 points on attack and service errors alone.  We missed some serves at key times which took away some momentum we were starting to build."
 
The Gray Wolves committed 31 attack errors and hit just .152 for the match while committing nine service errors in the four sets.
 
Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.) recorded her 10^th straight double-double, recording 19 kills and 18 digs.  She had 10 kills and 10 digs through the first two sets.  Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty H.S.) also had a double-double with 13 kills and 16 dig while Ave Stout (Huntertown, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) had the team's highest hitting percentage at .300 with 12 kills.  Stout also was involved in four blocks.
 
Angelica Dippold (Louisville, Ky./Mercy Academy) led all defenders in the match with 25 digs while Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.) added 10 digs off of the bench.
 
Lourdes jumped in front early in the match, taking the lead in the opening set after dropping the first point of the contest, and never relinquished the advantage the rest of the stanza.  The Gray Wolves built a 15-11 lead and held on for a two-point victory after a late Warrior comeback attempt.
 
In the second set, Corban (24-6) cut its offensive errors nearly in half from the first set, committing just four offensive miscues.  Lourdes never led in the second, falling behind by as many as five points, 16-11.  The Gray Wolves battled back, cutting the deficit to just one, 23-22, but back-to-back errors by Lourdes allowed Corban to even the match.
 
The third set was tight most of the way, with 10 ties and five lead changes.  With Lourdes leading 16-14, Corban scored eight straight points, five coming on Gray Wolf attack errors and another via an ace, to take control of the set and take the lead in the match.
 
The Gray Wolves appeared poised to force a decisive fifth set, building a 16-12 lead in the fourth before the Warriors came storming back.  A 7-2 run put Corban in front by a point, only to see the Gray Wolves retie the set.  After 12 ties in the stanza, the Warriors broke through at 21-21 with three straight points on the way to securing the victory.
 
Amber Parker led Corban with 16 kills and 13 digs while Marandah Boeder added 11 kills and hit a team-leading .259.  Haley Wells tallied 23 digs to pace the Warriors.
 
"We need to figure out a way to come together as a team and play to win tomorrow instead of playing not to lose," Reitz added.  "We still have the chance to come out and play again and make up for tonight.  We need to play our best against a good team with their home crowd behind them."
 
Lourdes (26-6) will face tournament host Morningside in the second of three pool play contests on Wednesday evening beginning at approximately 8 p.m. EST at the Tyson Events Center.  Morningside upset seventh-ranked Park in five sets on Tuesday.