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Sixth-ranked Lourdes closed out the 2017 regular season on Tuesday evening with a convincing 25-14, 25-20, 25-12 victory over UC Merced at the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center in a match that took just 61 minutes to complete.
 
"We played a really clean match tonight," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We passed well, hit effieciently, and served aggressively.  Our defense was strong both on the block and in the back row."
 
Lourdes hit .337 for the match while holding the Bobcats to just a .011 rate and outdug UC Merced 39-25 for the match.  The Gray Wolves also held a 7-5 blocking advantage.
 
Evan Gebert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) led the way with 15 kills and hit .583 while Ryan Maune (Washington, Mo./Saint Francis Borgia H.S.) added 11 kills, hit .471 and tallied six blocks.  Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) chipped in 10 kills, swinging at a .400 clip. 
 
Ryan Ferkel (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) handed out 43 assists in the three sets and CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.) recorded a match-high 12 digs defensively.
 
In the opening set Lourdes held UC Merced (5-8) to just four kills and a -.161 hitting percentage.  The Gray Wolves raced out to a 12-4 lead and, after trailing 1-0, was never behind the rest of the match.
 
Lourdes recorded 17 kills in the second set while slowly pulling away for the win.  The Bobcats were within two, 22-20, before the Gray Wolves closed out the set.
 
In the final stanza, Lourdes committed just two errors, hit .500, and cruised to the win.  The Gray Wolves built a 10-3 lead and were never challenged the rest of the match.
 
Lourdes (16-7) will head into the NAIA Independent Group tournament hosted by Benedictine at Mesa next Friday and Saturday (April 7-8) in Chandler, Ariz.  The official pairings and match times have yet to be released.