Grace Photo Gallery
Silver Lake Photo Gallery

Lourdes rebounded from a season-opening four-set loss to Grace on Friday afternoon to defeat Silver Lake in straight sets on the opening day of play at the Lancer Classic held inside of the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center in Winona Lake, Ind.
 
The 22^nd-ranked Gray Wolves suffered a 25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 28-26 setback to the host Lancers in the first match of the day before downing the Lakers 25-17, 25-6, 25-17.
 
Against Grace, Lourdes fell behind early before trying to mount a late comeback which fell short.  In the opening set, the Lancers scored the first five points of the contest, only to see the Gray Wolves score 10 of the next 13 to take their first lead of the day.  Grace followed with a 13-2 spurt of its own to seize control of the first set and take the early lead in the match.
 
After the Lancers opened the second set with a 12-7 lead, Lourdes climbed to within one, 13-12, before Grace scored the next five points on the way to building a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Lourdes fell behind early again in the third set before pulling even at 14, beginning a 7-2 run, which allowed the Gray Wolves to extend the match.  After scoring six of the first seven points of the fourth set, Lourdes appeared poised to force a deciding fifth set, building a 23-17 advantage.  The Lancers answered though, scoring seven straight points to extend the set, and eventually scored the final three points of the contest to score the upset.
 
"Grace competed hard and we didn't step up to their level of play," head coach Greg Reitz said after the opening match.  "We couldn't get the kills when we needed them, and our serve receive passing broke down at the wrong time."
 
Kristin Murrell (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) led the Gray Wolves with 19 kills and hit .311 for the contest, while adding 15 digs defensively.  Emily Arnold (Sylvania, Ohio/Southview H.S.) hit .429 with eight kills while Allie Hale (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.) recorded a team-high 20 digs.
 
Lourdes hit just .142 for the match, and was outdug by the Lancers 73-69.
 
Sierra Smith led Grace (4-1) with 21 kills and hit .405 while Sara Miller registered 24 digs.
 
The Gray Wolves started slow in the second match against Silver Lake as well, allowing the Lakers to score six of the first seven points of the match.  A 9-2 run by Lourdes allowed the Gray Wolves to take the lead, an edge they would not relinquish the remainder of set one.
 
In the second, it was all Lourdes.  The Gray Wolves hit .476 offensively while limiting the Lakers to just three kills.  A 10-1 start was more than enough to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Lourdes closed the match in the third.  A 6-1 run early allowed the Gray Wolves to build a 10-6 lead.  After Silver Lake pulled within two, 16-14, Lourdes scored nine of the final 12 points to score the victory.
 
"Even though we got the win, we need to get more consistent," Reitz said after the victory.  "We need to work on chemistry on the court and get our serve and pass game going to allow us to run sound offense."
 
Genessee Tate (West Covina, Calif./West Covina H.S.) tallied a match-high nine kills for the Gray Wolves while hitting .353 while Cierra Martinez (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) added eight kills, swinging at a .467 rate.  As a team Lourdes hit .330 for the match.
 
Defensively, Murrell and Tylar Roberson (Elkhart, Ind./Central H.S.) each had six digs as Lourdes held a 25-24 advantage for the match.  Seven different players recorded service aces as well, as the Gray Wolves tallied 14 in the contest.
 
Tasha Rabe led Silver Lake (0-2) with eight kills as the Lakers were held to .120 hitting for the match.
 
Lourdes (1-1) will close out play at the Lancer Classic on Saturday.  The Gray Wolves face Cincinnati Christian at 9 a.m. before battling Indiana-Kokomo in a 1 p.m. contest.