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Lourdes began play at the NAIA National Championships on Tuesday evening, suffering a 25-21, 25-15, 25-21 setback to fifth-ranked Northwestern (Iowa) in the first match of pool play inside the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
 
The Gray Wolves were limited to just 18 kills on the evening, and hit -.010 for the match, just the second time this season Lourdes was held to a negative hitting percentage.
 
"We did not hit well at all tonight," head coach Greg Reitz said after the match.  "We need to turn that around moving forward.  "However, it is a good sign to be relatively close to the number five team in the country when we played nowhere near our best."
 
After trailing most of the opening set, Lourdes battled back with four unanswered points, capped by a kill from Chelsea Lawrence (Palmdale, Calif./Highland H.S.), to take a 19-18 lead.  Following a timeout, the Red Raiders responded with five points in a row to retake the lead and earn the early advantage in the match.
 
A 6-0 run early in the second set put Northwestern (29-4) in front 11-6.  The Gray Wolves were able to pull within three, 13-10, before another 8-3 spurt by the Red Raiders allowed them to secure a 2-0 lead in the contest.
 
Lourdes fell behind 13-4 in the third only to claw back.  After a Northwestern attack error, Lourdes was within two, 16-14, but was unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
 
Emily Arnold (Sylvania, Ohio/Southview H.S.) and Genessee Tate (West Covina, Calif./West Covina H.S.) had a team-high four kills each for the Gray Wolves while Arnold also notched five blocks.  Angelica Dippold (Louisville, Ky./Mercy Academy) had a team-high 15 digs while Kristin Murrell (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) added 10 digs.
 
AJ Horstman led Northwestern with 11 kills and 15 digs as the Red Raiders hit .186 for the night with 39 total kills. 
 
Lourdes (22-12) will continue pool play on Wednesday evening, facing The College of Idaho.  First serve is slated for 9 p.m. EST inside of the Tyson Events Center.