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Trailing two sets to one, Lourdes rallied on Tuesday morning to win the final two sets and defeat Briar Cliff 16-25, 25-13, 18-25, 25-23, 15-11 to begin pool play at the NAIA National Invitational held inside the Charles S. Johnson Wellness Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
"This was a great way to start the tournament," head coach Greg Reitz said following the match.  "We had to battle a very good team and we had to lean on our entire roster to get the win."
 
Matheus Andrade (Coronel Fabriciano, Brazil/Alberto Giovannini H.s.) put down 21 kills and hit .381 while adding a team-high 16 digs defensively.  Jeff Lam (Richmond, B.C./Hugh McRoberts H.S.) hit .394 with 17 kills as the Gray Wolves swung at a .268 clip on the day, with Ian Fields (Phoenix, Ariz./Sandra Day O'Connor H.S.) handing out 41 assists.
 
Defensively, Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) recorded 15 digs while Fields added 10 more.  Field and Brendan Brown (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.) were both in on three of the Gray Wolves' six blocks as well.
 
"We got some strong performances today, but ultimately, it came down to playing sound team volleyball," Reitz added.
 
Lourdes led 11-9 in the opening set before Briar Cliff went on a run, scoring 10 of the next 11 points to begin a 13-2 spurt.  The Chargers hit .429 in the opening set with 17 kills while limiting the Gray Wolves to just nine.
 
The second set was the exact opposite for Briar Cliff, as the Chargers managed just six kills while committing 12 errors and hit -.158.  Lourdes raced out to an 8-1 lead in the stanza before building a 15-4 advantage. 
 
The third set saw the Chargers score five straight points after leading 18-17 to pull away and build the 2-1 match edge.  Briar Cliff again swung well, hitting at a .500 clip with 17 more kills.
 
Lourdes never trailed in the fourth set, but the stanza did have nine ties.  The Gray Wolves built a 14-8 lead midway through the set, only to see the Chargers rally, scoring nine of the next 12 points to pull even at 19.  With the set tied at 23, Lourdes managed back-to-back kills from Ricardo Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) and Andrade to even the match.
 
Four straight points early in the fifth gave the Gray Wolves a 5-2 lead, one they would not relinquish the remainder of the match.  Lourdes would lead by at least two points the rest of the way, and despite the Chargers withstanding the first two match points, Matt Mittry (Tustin, Calif./Calvary Chapel H.S.) put down the match-winning kills.
 
Peyton Schirman led Briar Cliff (15-5) with 24 kills and 10 digs while Noah Marasco-Ayau had a match-high 21 digs defensively.  The Chargers hit .228 as a team with Enrique Barajas handing out 48 assists alongside his 10 digs.
 
Lourdes (22-6) has now won four consecutive matches, and will return to the court on Wednesday afternoon to battle top-ranked Missouri Baptist in the team's second pool play match.  Action is slated to begin at 2 p.m. EDT inside the Johnson Wellness Center.