Saint Francis Photo Gallery
Indiana-Kokomo Photo Gallery

Angelica Dippold (Louisville, Ky./Mercy Academy) set Lourdes' single match record for digs on Friday at the Indiana Wesleyan Invitational as the Gray Wolves feel to Saint Francis (Ill.) in five sets before rebounding to defeat Indiana-Kokomo in four sets at Lucky Arena in Marion, Ind.
 
The Gray Wolves fell 26-24, 15-25, 25-23, 21-25, 17-15 in the opener to the Saints before defeating the Cougars 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22.
 
In the first match, Lourdes, ranked 22^nd nationally, committed 33 attack errors while hitting just .158, and made 12 service aces in falling to Saint Francis.
 
"We didn't play well enough as a team to win the match," head coach Greg Reitz said after the Saint Francis contest.
 
The opening set had 11 ties and five lead changes, with the Saints building an early 15-10 lead.  Lourdes battled back, scoring six of the next seven points to pull even.  The Gray Wolves pulled ahead 22-21, but Saint Francis responded with three straight points.  After Lourdes knotted the set at 24, back-to-back Gray Wolf errors gave the Saints the opening stanza.
 
Lourdes jumped ahead 12-6 in the second set.  After Saint Francis fought back to within two, 13-11, Lourdes surrendered just four points the rest of the way to even the match.  The Gray Wolves held the Saints to -.054 hitting in the set.
 
The third set had 14 ties and seven lead changes before the Saints pulled out the win late.  The Gray Wolves were held to .054 hitting in that set.  Lourdes turned things around in the fourth, swinging at a .294 clip on the way to forcing the decisive fifth set.  With the set tied at 20, Lourdes took advantage of three miscues by Saint Francis down the stretch.
 
The Gray Wolves built a 10-7 lead in the final set before the Saints battled back. Saint Francis scored five of the next six points to take a lead of their own. Lourdes eventually fought of a pair of match points, but an error ended the match.
 
Genessee Tate (West Covina, Calif./West Covina H.S.) led Lourdes with 15 kills and hit .480 while Kristin Murrell (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) had a match-high 22 digs.  Dippold added 16 digs.
 
Taylor Valant led Saint Francis (2-3) with 11 kills and hit .360 while Leah Alles had a team-high 20 digs. 
 
Against Indiana-Kokomo (4-6), Dippold tracked down a school-record 39 digs, breaking the 2011 mark of 37 set by Jordan Kerr against Concordia (Mich.).  As a team the Gray Wolves finished with 100 digs in the match, third most in school history.  Evynn Eubanks (Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia H.S.) had 24 digs to go along with 25 assists while Murrell added 14 digs and Tylar Roberson (Elkhart, Ind./Central H.S.) chipped in 12 more.
 
"Our defense was really solid and our serve receive was good most of the match," Reitz said after the victory.  "Angelica did a great job of picking up the balls she is supposed to.  Getting 39 digs in a match is ridiculous, especially in four sets."
 
Lourdes took control early in the opening set, scoring five of the first six points, and never trailed the rest of the way.  Offensively the Gray Wolves committed just two attack errors in the stanza.
 
In the second, the Cougars built a 21-15 lead before the Gray Wolves scored six unanswered to tie the set.  Lourdes was never able to take the lead late though, and back-to-back errors by Lourdes allowed Indiana-Kokomo to even the match.
 
The Gray Wolves scored the first five points of the third set and never trailed.  The Cougars fought back to forge a tie at 17, but then committed four errors in the next six points as Lourdes took a 23-17 advantage, one that would allow the Gray Wolves to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The fourth set had nine ties and five lead changes, and Indiana-Kokomo led 22-21 before Lourdes scored the final four points, closing the match on back-to-back kills by Chelsea Lawrence (Palmdale, Calif./Highland H.S.) and Roberson. 
 
Tate led Lourdes with 18 kills and hit .289 in the contest while Emily Arnold (Sylvania, Ohio/Southview H.S.) added 11 more kills and hit .476, committing just one error offensively. 
 
Lindi Thomas led Indiana-Kokomo with 13 kills and 21 digs while Kristi Elson had 24 digs.  The Gray Wolves limited the Cougars to just .047 hitting for the match.
 
Lourdes (5-2) will close out play at the Indiana Wesleyan Invitational on Saturday.  The Gray Wolves face Taylor at 10 a.m. before battling the host 21^st-ranked Wildcats at 4 p.m.