Sixth-ranked Lourdes saw its 2017 season come to a close on Friday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves dropped a 25-20, 25-22, 29-27 decision to third-ranked Park in pool play at the NAIA National Invitational held at the Petty Sports and Recreation Center in Saint Louis, Mo.
 
"In the end we didn't make the plays we needed to make and missed some key serves," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "It came down to the little things and Park made the plays."
 
Lourdes fell behind early in the opening set and was never able to recover.  With the set tied at nine, the Pirates scored seven of the next eight points to take control, hitting .367 in the stanza.
 
The Gray Wolves trailed 19-15 in set two before pulling within one, 22-21.  Park responded with three of the next four points to build a 2-0 lead in the match, putting down 19 kills in the second set.
 
Lourdes built a 19-15 lead in set three, and held a 23-20 advantage before the Pirates scored three straight points to tie the set.  The Gray Wolves had four set points, but were never able to close the stanza, and Park scored three unanswered to earn the victory.
 
Evan Gebert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) had a team-high 11 kills for Lourdes while Brendan Brown added 10 kills on 12 swings and hit at a .750 clip.  Ryan Maune (Washington, Mo./Saint Francis Borgia H.S.) added seven kills without an error, swinging at a .700 rate.
 
"We got a much better performance out of our middles today," Reitz added.  "Brendan had a great performance."
 
Ryan Ferkel (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) handed out 35 assists, ending his career with 2,282 helpers over four years.  CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.) tallied a team-high 11 digs, closing his career with 1,031.  Zachary Hawkins (Dickinson, Texas/Dickinson H.S.) also saw his career come to an end on Friday.
 
Oscar Tuero led Park (24-5) to the NAIA National Invitational semifinals with 21 kills while Daniel Arteaga added 13 kills and hit .417.  Milos Trivunic handed out 48 assists while Billy Crow had 13 digs for the Pirates.
 
Lourdes finishes its season 20-9 overall, its third consecutive 20-win season.