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Lourdes saw its season come to a close on Thursday evening as the Gray Wolves dropped a 22-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-15, 15-11 contest to Park in the final match of pool play at the NAIA National Championship at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
 
"I'm proud of what we did," head coach Greg Reitz said.  "We gave ourselves a chance to get out of the pool and took a very good team to five sets after winning the first two sets."
 
Lourdes came out quickly against the seventh-ranked Pirates, as five straight points off of the service of Lexie Curtis (Toledo, Ohio/Bedford H.S.) put the Gray Wolves in front 9-6.  Behind 15 kills in the set, the Gray Wolves would not relinquish the lead, taking an early advantage in the match.
 
The momentum carried into set two for the Gray Wolves.  Back-to-back aces from Curtis put Lourdes on top again early in the stanza, and a late 4-1 run extended the lead, and the Gray Wolves were one set from advancing.
 
With the Gray Wolves in front 13-11 in the third, Danna Gomes served up five straight points for the Pirates as Park forged in front.  Lourdes was able to close within one, 17-16, but Park held off the late rally to extend the match.  It was all Pirates in the fourth.  The Gray Wolves committed nine errors to just eight kills and a 7-2 run by Park put the set out of reach, forcing the decisive set. 
 
In the decisive set, Lourdes started quick, taking a 5-3 lead with four kills and an ace from Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.).  The Pirates responded, and took the lead for good 8-7 as the team's changed sides.  Three straight points, capped by a block from Salma Shahtout and Sabrina Silva, pushed the lead to four and the Gray Wolves were unable to recover.
 
"We faced a very good team that played very well tonight," Reitz added.
 
Shonk led the Gray Wolves with 14 kills and 22 digs while Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty H.S.) added 11 kills and 11 digs.  Lourdes finished the match hitting just .144 as a team.  Meghan Birr (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores H.S.) handed out 25 assists while Curtis added 18 helpers, 10 digs, and four aces.
 
Defensively, Angelica Dippold (Louisville, Ky./Mercy Academy) tallied 24 digs, a team-high while Ave Stout (Huntertown, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) had five blocks.
 
Wendy Romero led Park (34-3) with 27 kills on 89 swings, and added 18 digs defensively.  Salma Shahtout added 16 kills, hitting .480, with eight blocks.
 
Lourdes finished the season 27-7 overall.
 
"Our seniors laid the foundation for our program," Reitz added.  "Now we know what we need to do to maintain it, with the goal to build upon what they have done."