Sixth-ranked Lourdes advanced to the championship of the NAIA Independent Group tournament on Friday, posting a pair of wins inside of McMahon Gymnasium in Chandler, Ariz.
 
Lourdes defeated UC Merced 25-16, 25-16, 25-19 in the first round match of the double elimination tournament before downing Siena Heights 25-23, 25-21, 27-25 in the winner's bracket final.
 
Against UC Merced, the Gray Wolves hit .396 with 46 kills and just 10 attack errors in the match.  Lourdes tallied 18 kills in the first while hitting .433 and added 12 kills with just two errors in the second set while swinging at a .476 clip.  Despite 16 more kills and just three miscues, the Gray Wolves cooled to a .325 pace in the final stanza.
 
Lourdes limited the Bobcats to just .156 hitting and outdug UC Merced 33-30 for the afternoon.  The Gray Wolves added three service aces while not allowing one defensively.
 
"We played a really efficient match this afternoon," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We served aggressively and consistently.  I thought we did a great job defensively to keep them off balance and were clicking on offense.
 
Ryan Maune (Washington, Mo./Saint Francis Borgia H.S.) and Evan Gebert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) led the way with 10 kills each, with Maune swinging at a .600 clip.  Ryan Ferkel (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly H.S.) handed out 39 assists while CJ Rilveria (Kula, Hawaii/Kekaulike H.S.) tallied 11 digs.  Gebert and Brendan Brown (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.) were both involved in four blocks.
 
Cole Smith led UC Merced (7-11) with nine kills while Patrick Pascual had 10 digs for the Bobcats.
 
In the evening match against Siena Heights, Lourdes had to battle from behind in both the first and third sets, but hit .267 for the match to earn the sweep, and improve to 19-0 all-time against the Saints.
 
Gebert had a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs while Ferkel handed out 34 assists.  Maune added nine more kills and hit .467 in the victory.  He also was involved in four blocks.
 
"This wasn't as clean as the earlier match, but we got the same result," Reitz added.  "We played well enough to get the win.  We let them back into the match a few times, and didn't pass very well."
 
Tyler Hubbard-Neil led Siena Heights (15-10) with 15 kills while Matthew Dugan had 12 kills and 10 digs.
 
Lourdes (18-7) advances to Saturday's championship round, and will face the winner of Siena Heights and Benedictine-Mesa.  The Saints or Redhawks would have to beat the Gray Wolves twice while Lourdes needs just one win to capture the title.  First serve is set for 5:30 p.m. EDT.