Lourdes needed less than an hour on Friday evening to earn its fifth win in the last six outings, as the Gray Wolves defeated Saint Xavier 25-14, 25-18, 25-11 at Tam-o-Shanter.
 
The eighth-ranked Gray Wolves hit .512 for the match with 48 kills while committing just seven errors for the entire contest, five of which were on Cougar blocks.  Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) had a match-high 12 kills while Ryan Maune (Washington, Mo./Saint Francis Borgia H.S.) and Garrett Jones (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas H.S.) tallied 10 each.  Maune hit .833 for the contest with Jones connecting at a .643 clip.  Ryan Ferkel (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) handed out 40 assists in the match to surpass the 1,000-assist plateau for his career.
 
"Ferkel ran the offense very efficiently tonight," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We passed well which allowed us to hit efficiently, but we still had a few too many reception errors."
 
Lourdes scored seven of the match's first eight points in cruising to an opening set win.  The Gray wolves committed just one miscue in the stanza, hitting .593 with 17 kills.  In the second, a 7-2 run midway through the set gave Lourdes breathing room, putting the hosts in front 20-13 on the way to the win.  Ubior's serve helped Lourdes score the first six points of set three, and the lead ballooned to 14-3 as the Gray Wolves completed the sweep.
 
CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii, Kekaulike H.S.) registered 14 digs for Lourdes defensively as the Gray Wolves outdug Saint Xavier 35-24 for the match.
 
Sean Barry led Saint Xavier (5-12) offensively with nine kills while Dan O'Keefe recorded seven digs.
 
Lourdes (15-3) will remain home on Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves entertain Cincinnati Christian.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Tam-o-Shanter.