Lourdes earned its 19^th and 20^th victories of the season on Saturday, sweeping Morningside and host Cardinal Stritch at the CSU Fieldhouse in Milwaukee, Wis. to extend its winning streak to seven straight matches and 21 consecutive sets.
 
"It was a very successful weekend for us," head coach Greg Reitz said.  "We needed to play well against all of these teams and get wins and that's just what we did."
 
In the opener against Morningside, Lourdes needed numerous extra points to score a 25-15, 34-32, 27-25 victory.  The Gray Wolves held the Mustangs to .000 hitting in the opening set and scored six straight points midway through the stanza to build a 12-7 lead on the way to the win.
 
The second set had 14 ties and four lead changes.  Lourdes led 24-22 before Morningside tied the set and the teams traded sideouts and points until three straight errors late by the Mustangs handed the Gray Wolves the win.  The third set also had 14 ties.  Against Lourdes had a lead late, 23-20, before the Mustangs tallied four straight points to take the lead.  The Gray Wolves fought off a set point before eventually earning the sweep.
 
Garrett Jones (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas H.S.) led the way with 14 kills while Ryan Maune (Washington, Mo./Saint Francis H.S.) added 10 kills and hit .467.  Ryan Ferkel (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) handed out 41 assists and added 12 digs defensively.
 
CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.) lso had 12 digs while Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleayn Academy) added 10 digs.
 
Raul Rivera Rojas led Morningside (7-21) with 13 kills and eight digs while Cade DuVel added 10 digs.
 
"We had to battle in sets two and three and we did," Reitz added.  "Ferkel set well again with 41 assists in three sets.  We spread the ball around pretty well once again to earn a solid win."
 
Lourdes posted its seventh straight sweep, 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 over host Cardinal Stritch in the tournament finale. Zachary Hawkins (Dickinson, Texas/Dickinson H.S.) registered a team-high 13 kills for the Gray Wolves while Ubior added 10 more.  Ferkel handed out 36 assists in the victory.
 
Defensively, Rilveria recorded 12 digs while Brendan Brown (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.) tallied six blocks.
 
After leading 20-9 in set one, Lourdes withstood a 7-1 Wolves run to take the early lead in the match.  The Gray Wolves never trailed in sets two or three, but the second was tight throughout.  In the third Lourdes hit .429 to close out the match.
 
Cardinal Stritch (16-13) had three players with eight kills in the match while Scott Fabian had a team-high 11 digs.
 
Lourdes (20-3) will return to action on March 30 as the Gray Wolves close out Mideast Conference play at Siena Heights.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. at the SHU Fieldhouse in Adrian, Mich.