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Fourth-ranked Lourdes suffered its first loss in pool play at the NAIA National Invitational on Wednesday afternoon, dropping a 25-15, 23-25, 25-16, 27-25 decision to top-ranked Missouri Baptist inside the Charles S. Johnson Wellness Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
"This was a tough match," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We struggled to find consistency offensively and the same was true on defense.  Our serving was off today, which made it tough to score points.  We battled to make it a close match despite not playing our best.  We will look to put our best foot forward tomorrow."
 
Missouri Baptist hit .308 on the afternoon while limiting the Gray Wolves to just a .184 clip.  Both teams struggled from the service line, with Lourdes committing 18 errors and the Spartans misfiring 19 times.
 
Lourdes started slowly, as Missouri Baptist raced out to a 12-3 lead in the opening set.  The Gray Wolves were able to pull within six, but another 6-0 spurt by the Spartans put the opening set out of reach.  Lourdes managed just five kills in the stanza, hitting -.037.
 
The Gray Wolves managed to even the match after a second set which saw 14 ties and seven lead changes.  Lourdes led by as many as four, 23-19, before holding on for the win, while hitting .312 with 15 kills.
 
Set three was tight early, with Lourdes holding a 12-11 advantage.  Missouri Baptist went on a 12-2 run, including seven straight points, to pull away, taking the lead in the match.  The Spartans hit .450 in the stanza.
 
The fourth set had 20 ties, as neither team could build a sizable lead.  The Gray Wolves had a set point at 24-23 that Missouri Baptist fought off, before finally ending the match with a service ace.
 
Ricardo Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.) led Lourdes with 12 kills and hit .300 while Matheus Andrade (Coronel Fabriciano, Brazil/Alberto Giovannini H.S.) added 11 kills.
 
Andrade, Henrique Gehrke (Blumenau, Brazil/Escola Barao Do Rio Branco H.S.), and Eric Ubior (Guaynabo, P.R./Wesleyan Academy) each had nine digs to place Lourdes defensively, while Brendan Brown (Pittsburgh, Pa./north Allegheny H.S.) blocked four shots.
 
Luka Cajic led Missouri Baptist (24-1) with 20 kills and hit .372 while Steven Rodriguez added 13 kills.  Colton Inman had a match-high 14 digs for the Spartans.
 
Lourdes (22-7) will look to advance out of pool play on Thursday morning, as the Gray Wolves battle Saint Andrews.  First serve is set for 11 a.m. EDT.