Complete Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Volleyball: Lourdes makes its second appearance ever at the NAIA National Invitational on Wednesday as the seventh-ranked Gray Wolves face sixth-ranked Park in an opening round match.  The winner will advance to pool play which begins on Thursday.

Head Coach Greg Reitz: In his fifth season both on the Lourdes bench, and overall coaching men's volleyball, Greg Reitz has a 92-40 (.697) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves.  He was named to the MAMVIC East Coach of the Year in 2012 and the Great Lakes Conference Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2015.  Reitz is the only head coach in Lourdes program's history.

Series Notes: Park is 4-0 all-time against Lourdes in a series that dates back to March 2, 2012.  All four meetings have come at neutral sites, including a 3-1 Pirates victory earlier this season on Feb. 26, 2016 in Marshall, Mo.

Earlier This Season: Park posted a 25-17, 23-25, 25-15, 26-24 victory over Lourdes on Feb. 26 as the two schools met at the Viking Invitational.  Ryan Maune hit .500 with 14 kills to lead the Gray Wolves while Ryan Ferkel handed out 49 assists.  CJ Rilveria tallied 15 digs to lead the Lourdes defense.  Daniel Arteaga led Park with 22 kills and 11 digs while Oscar Fiorentino also handed out 46 assists.  Ramon Cora had 11 digs and five blocks defensively.

Wrapping Up the MEC Tournament: Lourdes swept Lawrence Tech 25-12, 25-11, 25-10 in the semifinals, hitting .478 as a team.  The Gray Wolves surrendered just 10 total kills in the match, while registering 10 service aces.  Eric Ubior led Lourdes with 15 kills and hit .520 while Evan Kinard recorded seven aces.  In the championship, Lourdes downed Siena Heights 25-19, 25-15, 25-20.  The Gray Wolves held the Saints to just .054 hitting.  Zachary Hawkins led Lourdes with 16 kills and hit .483 while CJ Rilveria tallied 36 digs.

Scouting Park: The Pirates fell in straight sets at Missouri Baptist in the championship match of the Midwest Conference tournament.  Daniel Arteaga leads Park with 441 kills this season and is hitting .279, and also leads the team with 46 service aces.  Oscar Fiorentino has handed out 1,178 assists while Billy Crow has recorded a team-high 313 digs.  Oscar Tuero leads the Pirates with 91 blocks this season.

Conference Tournament Honors: Zachary Hawkins was named the Most Valuable Player of the Mideast Conference tournament after hitting .465 over the two matches.  He tallied 24 kills (4.00 per set), while adding 16 digs (2.67 per set).  In addition, Garrett Jones was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting 14 kills (2.33 per set) and five blocks (0.83 per set).

MEC Honors: Ryan Ferkel was named the Mideast Conference Player of the Year as well as the Setter of the Year after averaging 10.59 assists and 2.22 digs per set this season.  Ryan Maune was selected as the MEC Newcomer of the Year after hitting .449 with 2.58 kills per set and 1.19 blocks per set.  CJ Rilveria was the league's Libero of the Year, tallying 3.62 digs per set.  Greg Reitz was named the MEC co-Coach of the Year after guiding the Gray Wolves to a perfect 6-0 league record.

All-Time at the NAIA National Invitational: Lourdes made its only previous NAIA National Tournament appearance in 2014, but dropped their two pool play matches.  The Gray Wolves fell in four sets to Grand View in their first contest before losing by the same margin to Clarke in the second contest.

Down the Road: The winner of the Lourdes-Park match will advance to Thursday and Friday's pool play portion of the tournament where they will join Missouri Baptist and Grand View in pool A.

Winning Set One Leads to Good Things: Lourdes is a perfect 22-0 when winning the opening set this season.

School Records: Lourdes enters the NAIA National Invitational having won 11 consecutive contests, setting a new school record win streak.  During the win streak, the Gray Wolves have not dropped a single set, winning 33 consecutive stanzas.  The previous school record was eight straight wins set Feb. 3 through March 6, 2015 and matched earlier this season Jan. 23 through Feb. 19.  In addition, the Gray Wolves have a school record 24 victories this season.

The Nation's Best: As a team, Lourdes leads the nation statistically in digs per set, as the Gray Wolves have tallied 13.13 per stanza.  The Gray Wolves also lead the in NAIA averaging 13.52 kills per set and 12.72 assists per set.

Among the NAIA Individual Leaders: CJ Rilveria ranks leads all of NAIA men's volleyball tallying 3.62 digs per set this season while Ryan Maune is second nationally averaging 1.19 blocks per set.  Maune is also fourth in the country hitting .449 while Ryan Ferkel is fifth nationally handing out 10.59 assists per set.  Brendan Brown is seventh in the country hitting .392 himself.
 
This and That: Lourdes remains ranked seventh in NAIA, its highest ranking of the season ... Ryan Ferkel enters the tournament with 900 assists this season and is nearing 1,300 for his career (1,293) ... CJ Rilveria has passed the 600 career dig mark, entering play with 615 in three seasons ... Evan Kinard tallied seven aces against Lawrence Tech in the MEC semifinals after having just eight total all season ... Rilveria is the only Gray Wolf to play in every set this season.