UC Merced Photo Gallery
Cardinal Stritch Photo Gallery

Lourdes opened play in its own Gray Wolf Invitational on Friday inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center, dropping its first match in three sets to UC Merced before rebounding to defeat Cardinal Stritch in a four-set contest.
 
The 10^th-ranked Gray Wolves fell 25-22, 25-15, 25-21 to the Bobcats in the afternoon before rebounding to defeat eighth-ranked Cardinal Stritch 25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23.
 
The opening set was tight throughout.  Lourdes forged ahead 13-9 before the Bobcats pulled even at 16 and eventually too an 18-17 lead.  The Gray Wolves answered to retake the lead 19-18, before three straight points from UC Merced allowed the visitors to take the lead for good.  Lourdes committed 10 attack errors in the opening set.
 
UC Merced never trailed in the second set.  A 9-2 run allowed the Bobcats to open up a 13-6 advantage on the way to the win.  UC Merced racked up five service aces in the stanza.
 
Both teams hit well in the third, with UC Merced posting 20 kills while hitting .417 and Lourdes added 14 kills with a .444 efficiency.  The Gray Wolves held a 19-16 lead late in the set when UC Merced tallied seven straight points to pull ahead, and Lourdes' eight-match winning streak.
 
"We started off slow and against a good team that can come back to bite you," head coach Greg Reitz said between matches.  "We didn't slow their offense down enough to win the match."
 
Ricardo Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco) led Lourdes with eight kills and hit .727, with all his action in a reserve role coming on in the third set.  Matheus Andrade (Coronel Fabriciano, Brazil/Alberto Giovannini H.S.) and Evan Gebert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider H.S.) added seven kills as the Gray Wolves hit .229 as a team.  Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco) handed out 23 assists while Andrade and Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) tallied a team-high seven digs each.
 
Cole Smith led UC Merced (5-5) with nine kills while Ryan Steele had 38 assists for an offense that hit .337.  Defensively, Matthew Pelfini had a match-high 10 digs for the Bobcats.
 
Lourdes bounced back in the night match, hitting .321 against Cardinal Stritch while racking up 10 blocks defensively.  Gebert hit .429 with 23 kills and added 12 digs for a double-double while Andrade added 20 kills while hitting .567.  Henrique Gehrke also had a double-double with 34 assists and 10 digs while Brendan Brown (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.) was in on seven blocks.
 
"It was good to see us compete against a quality opponent and bounce back after a rough first match," Reitz said at the end of the night.  "We served and passed consistently, were battling for points, and our offense was clicking."
 
The Gray Wolves built an early 11-6 lead only to see Cardinal Stritch respond, pulling in front 20-18 late.  With the set tied at 21, Lourdes scored the next three points on the way to the lead in the match.
 
The Wolves evened the match at one, hitting .393 in the second set.  The guests built an early 7-1 lead, and despite Lourdes rallying late, the Gray Wolves were never able to pull even.
 
Lourdes hit a blistering .469 with 18 kills in the third.  After building an early 10-4 lead, Lourdes maintained at least a three-point advantage the remainder of the set.
 
In the fourth, there were nine ties and five lead changes.  Lourdes took the lead 18-17 after three straight points, and never fell behind again the rest of the way, despite Cardinal Stritch tying the set up three ties down the stretch.
 
Trent Sellers and Joao Sales Naeto led Cardinal Stritch (9-6) with 16 kills each while Sellers also recorded 11 digs.
 
Lourdes (10-6) will conclude play in the Gray Wolf Invitational on Saturday, hosting Webber International at 12:30 p.m. and ninth-ranked Clarke at 5:30 p.m.