Dordt Photo Gallery
Briar Cliff Photo Gallery

Lourdes closed out play on Saturday at the Red Raider Classic at the Bultman Center in Orange City, Iowa.  The 14^th-ranked Gray Wolves fell 25-18, 25-22, 25-27, 30-28 to 13^th-ranked Dordt to begin the day before bouncing back to defeat Briar Cliff 25-21, 26-24, 25-22 in the finale.
 
In the opener against Dordt, the Defenders hit .234 and outblocked the Gray Wolves 18-10 while holding Lourdes to just a .127 hitting percentage.
 
A 5-0 run in the opening set put Dordt in front 12-6 and the Gray Wolves were unable to play from behind.  In the second, Lourdes battled back from a five-point deficit early to take a 19-18 lead.  The Defenders responded with four straight points to build a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Defenders had a pair of match points in the third that Lourdes was able to fend off and rallied to extend the match.  The Gray Wolves held off six more match points by Dordt in the fourth, a set that saw 16 ties and six lead changes.  The Defenders finally closed the match out with an ace.
 
"We didn't play well enough to win the match," head coach Greg Reitz stated after the contest.  "Our serve receive broke down at times and we became predictable offensively which is not good to do against such a big block.  We battled back from 0-2 down and had chances in the fourth, but it was not enough."
 
Kristin Murrell (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) led Lourdes with 12 kills and hit .273 while Ave Stout (Huntertown, Ind./Bishop Luers H.S.) and Genessee Tate (West Covina, Calif./West Covina H.S.) added 10 kills each.  Stout hit .381 for the afternoon and Meghan Birr (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores H.S.) handed out 38 assists.
 
Molly Shonk (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley H.S.) recorded 17 digs and Angelica Dippold (Louisville, Ky./Mercy Academy) added 13 to lead the defense while Stef Comte (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame H.S.) was involved in six blocks.
 
Brooke Granstra led Dordt (2-1) with 17 kills and 18 digs while Elizabeth Kiel and Haley Moss were each involved in 10 blocks.
 
Lourdes hit .301 in the match against Briar Cliff with 52 kills over the three sets.  Tate and Stephanie Ruffing (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty H.S.) each had 13 kills to lead the way while Comte added 11 kills and hit .625.  Birr handed out 37 assists.
 
Ruffing added 11 digs defensively for a double-double while Dippold added nine digs.  Stout was involved in five of the team's six blocks.
 
"I'm happy to finish with a win in three against a scrappy team," Reitz said.  "We played a solid match.  Our serve receive was steady and our defense was sound which extended rallies.  We passed well enough to get our middles involved and they hit efficiently with good looks."
 
The opening set was tight throughout.  With the Chargers leading 16-15, Lourdes went on a 9-4 run to take control in a set that saw 12 ties.  Lourdes tallied 21 kills in the opening stanza while hitting .395.
 
In the second, an 8-2 run allowed Lourdes to build a 16-9 lead.  A late 9-3 run allowed Briar Cliff to tie the set at 24 before a kill by Stout and an attack error by the Chargers gave the Gray Wolves a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Gray Wolves never trailed in the third as a 9-3 run opened up a 17-10 lead.  The Chargers scored the next five points, to get within two, but that would be as close as Briar Cliff would get the rest of the way.
 
Katelin Langel led Briar Cliff (2-2) with 10 kills while Breanne Hankins had a match-high 16 digs.
 
Lourdes (2-2) will return to action next weekend at the Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic in Columbia, Mo.  The Gray Wolves will face Olivet Nazarene at 4 p.m. EDT in the opener before playing host, and top-ranked Columbia (Mo.) in the 8 p.m. EDT contest.