After returning to the NAIA National Invitational for the second time in program history last season, Lourdes looks for a repeat performance this year as the Gray Wolves embark on the 2017 campaign.
 
Head coach Greg Reitz returns for his sixth season at the helm of the Gray Wolf program and has added 10 newcomers to the nine returnees for the upcoming year.  Lourdes enters the year ranked fourth nationally in the preseason NAIA poll.
 
Last year's Mideast Conference Player of the Year, Ryan Ferkel, returns for his senior season as the Gray Wolves' setter.  Last year he handed out 1,011 assists on his way to also being named a First Team All-MEC selection and the league's Setter of the Year.  Should the Gray Wolves run a 6-2 offense this season, freshman Ian Fields has been battling for time in the setter's role.  The freshman is one of five rookies from the state of Arizona on the Lourdes roster.  Transfer Isaiah Williams could also battle for time quarterbacking the Gray Wolf offense this season.
 
First Team All-MEC pick Ryan Maune returns in the middle of the Lourdes lineup.  He tallied 263 kills and recorded 115 blocks during his first year wearing the terra cotta and block, while hitting .455 offensively.  Transfer Matt Mittry will also look to play a major role at middle blocker this year.  A transfer from Irvine Valley College, he enters the season with two years of collegiate volleyball under his belt.  Daniel Williams and Fred Miller will also vie for time in the middle this season.
 
Returnees Brendan Brown and Jaryn Kuhaulua-Feiteira both have the ability to play in the middle as well as at outside hitter this year.  Brown hit .376 with 168 kills and added 76 blocks during his rookie year while Kuhaulua-Feiteira has appeared in 19 matches during his first two years with Lourdes, hitting at a .377 clip.
 
Eric Ubior and Zachary Hawkins return to lead the outside hitting corps for the Gray Wolves.  Ubior had 229 kills as a sophomore one season ago while hitting at a .268 clip.  Hawkins registered 298 kills and swung at a .272 rate during his junior season and looks to make his senior year a productive one.  Four newcomers will also look to play a major role for Lourdes on the outside.  Liam Santa Cruz, Evan Gebert, and Bryce Whitman are all freshmen while Colby Magorien transferred to Lourdes from Robert Morris (Ill.) and is a junior.
 
CJ Rilveria returns for his senior season defensively.  The MEC Libero of the Year and a First Team All-MEC selection in 2016, he has tallied 645 digs over his first three seasons with the Gray Wolves.  Grady O'Neil will also push for time in a defensive specialist role, as will redshirt-freshman Zach Grennan, who could also be used in a serving role.
 
Lourdes opens the season on the road at Lawrence Tech Jan. 18, the first of three straight matches away from home to start the year.  The Gray Wolves play their first match ever in the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center on Feb. 1 against Siena Heights, their lone home contest in their first 10 matches.  The Gray Wolves will host the Lourdes Invitational Feb. 17-18 as part of a seven-match homestand, and the regular season will conclude March 28 at home against UC Merced.  An NAIA independent this year, Lourdes will play in the NAIA Independent Group tournament out west April 7-8 at a site to be determined.
 
The stage is set for a solid season out of the Gray Wolves.  Lourdes has a lot of weapons offensively, and the key will be to serve and pass well to allow the setters to distribute the ball to the offense.  Should that occur, the Gray Wolves are poised for a successful season.