Lourdes jumped out to a two set lead against the defending national champion, and top-ranked Missouri Baptist on Thursday afternoon in pool play at the NAIA National Invitational, but the Spartans responded and defeated the Gray Wolves 19-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-13, 15-13 at the Petty Sports and Recreation Complex in Saint Louis, Mo.
 
"We battled well, putting them up against the ropes," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "You have to finish the job though and we didn't do that.  We didn't stay together on the floor like we were the first two sets."
 
Playing on Missouri Baptist's home floor did not bother seventh-ranked Lourdes early in the match as the Gray Wolves hit .429 in the opening set.  The Spartans led 19-17 before the Gray Wolves scored the final eight points of the set, with Bryan Downs (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon H.S.) serving out the opening set.
 
Four straight points early in set two put the Gray Wolves in front for good 6-3, and Lourdes extended the lead to as many as five several times.  Missouri Baptist closed to within three late, but a kill from Ryan Maune (Washington, Mo./Saint Francis Borgia H.S.) put Lourdes on top 2-0 in the match.
 
Coming out of the intermission, Missouri Baptist (30-1) hit .500 in the third set with just two errors.  Lourdes was within two 11-9 before the Spartans went on an 8-2 run to pull away.  The loss ended the Gray Wolves streak of 38 consecutive sets won.
 
In the fourth, Lourdes was held to just .045 hitting while the Spartans swung at a .476 clip.  A 10-4 run allowed Missouri Baptist to build a 20-10 advantage, forcing the decisive fifth set.
 
In the finale, the tournament hosts led 13-9 before Lourdes fought back, tying the match on a service ace by Zachary Hawkins (Dickinson, Texas/Dickinson H.S.).  The Spartans finished the match though, registering a kill before Lourdes set the final shot wide.
 
Hawkins led Lourdes with 13 kills and hit .379 while Maune added 10 kills and hit .615.  Garrett Jones (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas H.S.) and Brendan Brown (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.) both had 10 kills as well for the Gray Wolves which hit .261 as a team.
 
Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) led the defense with 10 digs.
 
Race Munger led Missouri Baptist with 17 kills and hit .583 while Kyle Foley handed out 59 assists for the Spartans.
 
Lourdes (25-4) will close out pool play on Friday afternoon as the Gray Wolves face third-ranked Grand View.  The opening serve is set for 2 p.m. EDT and the Gray Wolves must win to have a chance to advance to the national semifinals later Friday evening.