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Lourdes battled NCAA Division I foe Fort Wayne on Wednesday evening inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center, suffering a 25-17, 25-14, 25-19 setback after defeating the Mastodons each of the last two seasons.
 
"I thought we competed hard and executed decently tonight," head coach Greg Reitz said after the match.  "They are a very good team and we didn't beat ourselves, but rather made them beat us."
 
The Gray Wolves kept things close in the opening set, with nine ties and four lead changes.  Lourdes took the lead 17-16 on a kill by Evan Gebert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) to go in front 17-16.  However, the Mastodons were able to side out and serve out the set with a 9-0 run.
 
"We started the match well and competed in the first set until 17," Reitz commented.  "Then we got in a service rotation that we couldn't break and they got momentum from that."
 
Fort Wayne carried the momentum into the second, racing out to a 12-3 lead.  The Gray Wolves steadied out the remainder of the set, but were never able to make a run.  After falling behind 8-2 in the third, Lourdes battled back to close within one, 9-8, and hung around throughout the set.  Leading 21-18 late, the Mastodons scored the final four points to secure the win.
 
Gebert led Lourdes, ranked ninth in NAIA, with nine kills in the match while Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) handed out 28 assists.  The Gray Wolf offense hit just .110 on the evening while Fort Wayne was able to record 11 blocks.  Lourdes also committed 12 service errors in the match.
 
Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) registered a match-high 12 digs while Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.) added 11 more as Lourdes trailed the Mastodons just 40-39 in that category.
 
Pelegrin Vargas led Fort Wayne (7-0) with 13 kills and nine digs.
 
Lourdes (1-3) begins a nine-match stretch away from home this weekend, traveling to the Judson Early Bird Tournament.  The Gray Wolves face Menlo at 7 p.m. EST and Quincy at 9 p.m. EST on Friday inside Lindner Fitness Center in Elgin, Ill.