For the first time in 2017 fourth-ranked Lourdes dropped a match on Saturday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves fell 17-25, 27-25, 28-26, 25-19 to seventh-ranked Clarke at the Kehl Center in Dubuque, Iowa.
After holding the Crusaders to just .115 hitting in the opening set, Clarke swung over .310 for each of the final three sets, finishing at a .287 clip for the night. The Gray Wolves, meanwhile, hit .286 in the first and finished at just .194.
"We missed too many serves to put pressure on Clarke," head coach
Greg Reitz said afterwards. "We did not pass well enough to diversity our offense."
The Gray Wolves started quickly, jumping out to a 14-4 lead in the opening set. After the lead grew to 12, 19-7, Clarke was able to go on a 7-2 run to close the gap, but would not get closer than seven the rest of the set. In the second the Crusaders started fast, only for Lourdes to battle back to take a 23-20 lead late. Clarke responded though, forcing extra points before posting a 27-25 win.
The third set saw 11 ties and four lead changes, with Lourdes again holding the edge late, 24-22. The Crusaders fought off a pair of set points as part of a 3-0 run, before eventually pulling out the set to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Lourdes led 11-9 in the fourth, but four straight points by Clarke put the hosts in front for good and the Gray Wolves could not recover, suffering their first loss of the year.
Ryan Maune (Washington, Mo./Saint Francis Borgia H.S.) led Lourdes with 17 kills and hit .324 while
Colby Magorien (Agoura Hills, Calif./Westlake H.S.) added 14 more.
Ryan Ferkel (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) handed out a team-high 21 assists.
Defensively, Magorien and
CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.) each recorded seven digs.
Isaiah Acfalle led Clarke (1-2) with 21 kills and hit .447 while Matt DePauw had a match-high 12 digs and 39 assists.
"We will have to work on a few things with our time off to be better in our next outing," Reitz concluded.
Lourdes (2-1) will have 10 days off before opening the home portion of its schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 1, when Siena Heights visits the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
