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After jumping out to a two-set lead, Lourdes needed a strong fifth set to outlast defending Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference champion Cornerstone 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 18-25, 15-5 on Friday evening inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"It was great to come away with the win," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We started strong but lost our rhythm in the middle of the match.  We continued to battle and everyone that was dressed saw action and contributed tonight to help us to the win."
 
The Gray Wolves never trailed in the opening set on the way to the victory.  Lourdes forced eight hitting errors from the Golden Eagle attack while swinging at a .278 clip.  A pair of 4-0 runs in the set proved key in taking the early lead in the match.
 
Set two saw Lourdes take the lead with a 4-0 spurt early, building a 9-6 advantage, and the Gray Wolves never allowed Cornerstone to retake the lead.  With the set tied at 20, Lourdes scored the next two points and the teams traded side outs from there.
 
Lourdes raced out to a 6-1 lead in the third, looking for the sweep.  The Golden Eagles responded, scoring six straight points midway through to take a 14-13 lead.  Another four straight points after the set was tied at 17 allowed Cornerstone to extend the match to a fourth set.
 
A 12-1 run early in the fourth allowed Cornerstone to seize control of the fourth early, 13-4, and the Golden Eagles never looked back.  The visitors committed just one attack error while hitting .292 in forcing the decisive set.
 
The Gray Wolves never trailed in the final stanza, forcing six errors by Cornerstone as the Golden Eagles hit -.136 after putting down just three kills.  Leading 5-3, Lourdes scored 10 of the final 12 points to improve to 26-2 all-time inside the Ebeid Rec Center.
 
Tylar Roberson (Elkhart, Ind./Central H.S.) led the way for Lourdes with 18 kills, hitting .326.  She added 11 digs for a double-double while Carol Goncalves (Brazilia, Brazil/Sagrado Corcacao de Maria H.S.) added a double-double as well with 37 assists and 16 digs.
 
Monique Oliveira (Rio Branco, Brazil/Americo Rene Giannetti H.S.) added 12 kills and 14 digs for a double-double while Emily Ray (Whitehouse, Ohio/Anthony Wayne H.S.) tallied 11 kills.
 
Defensively, Niki Polce (New Boston, Mich./Huron H.S.) led all players with 29 digs as Lourdes held a 103-84 edge in that category.  Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) added 16 digs.
 
Kendra Zwart led Cornerstone (12-7, 4-3 WHAC) with 20 kills and seven blocks while hitting .304.
 
Lourdes (10-1, 7-1) will look for its 10^th consecutive home victory on Saturday afternoon, hosting Aquinas in a battle for first place in the WHAC.  First serve is set for 7 p.m.