Lourdes closed out play at the Judson Early Bird Tournament on Saturday with a pair of victories, defeating Mount Mercy in five sets before downing 10^th-ranked Robert Morris (Ill.) in four sets inside the Linder Fitness Center in Elgin, Ill.
 
The ninth-ranked Gray Wolves battled Mount Mercy before pulling out a 25-8, 23-25, 25-15, 17-25, 15-12 victory and downed the Eagles 27-29, 27-25, 25-18, 25-23.
 
In the opening match against the Mustangs, Lourdes hit .650 with 13 kills while not committing an error in the opening set.  The Gray Wolves led 7-4 before scoring the next seven points to begin an 18-4 closing run.
 
The second set saw 13 ties and five lead changes two points from the 12-10 mark on.  Mount Mercy was able to tally the final two kills to even the match at one.
 
Lourdes hit .407 in the third set and raced out to a 10-3 lead to take the lead in the match before Mount Mercy hit .320 in the fourth and took an early 12-3 lead on the way to forcing the decisive fifth set.
 
Lourdes jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the fifth, and led 13-8 before the Mustangs made a late rally to close within one.  A kill and a block by Evan Gebert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) closed out the match.
 
"We started off playing very well, served and passed well, hit efficiently, and forced them into errors with our block and defense," head coach Greg Reitz said following the opener.  "We had to battle in the second and didn't get the win but were able to regroup in the third.  The fourth did not go as well and the fifth was close but we made a couple extra plays to earn the win."
 
Gebert and Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.) each had 14 kills, with Lam hitting .458, as the Gray Wolves earned the win.  Ian Fields (Phoenix, Ariz./Sandra Day O'Connor H.S.) handed out 39 assists as Lourdes hit .275 as a team for the match.  Fields also had 11 digs while Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) had a match-high 12 digs.
 
Nikola Stoimenov led Mount Mercy (5-1) with 17 kills while Strahil Svilenski added 14 kills and hit .480 as the Mustangs suffered their first loss of the season.
 
Lourdes had to battle again against Robert Morris.  The opening set had 18 ties and seven lead changes before the Eagles pulled out the victory.  Lourdes responded in a tight second set that was also forced to extra points.
 
The third set was tied at 16 when Lourdes went on a 9-2 run to close the set, taking the lead in the match.  The Gray Wolves built a 15-10 lead in the fourth, only to see Robert Morris close to within one, 22-21 late.  Lourdes never surrendered the lead though in moving back to the .500 mark on the season.
 
"We passed very well throughout the match, and hit well at times and that ended up being the difference in the match," said Reitz.  "We played some really solid defense when we needed it most.  I'm happy with the performance we had in this match."
 
Matheus Andrade (Coronel Fabriciano, Brazil/Alberto Giovannini H.S.) led Lourdes with 18 kills and hit .316 while Gebert added 17 kills.  Fields handed out 48 assists and had 10 digs and the Gray Wolves hit .255 as a team.
 
Ubior added 14 digs and Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Varao Do Rio Branco H.S.) tallied 11 digs as the Gray Wolves held a 53-49 edge in that category.
 
Colby Magorien led Robert Morris (4-2) with 22 kills while Timothy Carey added 16 digs.
 
Lourdes (4-4) will return to action on Wednesday evening, traveling to Southfield, Mich. to battle Lawrence Tech.  The opening serve is set for 7 p.m. inside the Ridler Fieldhouse.