Trailing two sets to none, Lourdes rallied to defeat Northwestern Ohio 18-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-19, 17-15 on Saturday afternoon to conclude the regular season inside of Racer Gymnasium in Lima, Ohio.
 
We competed very well after a very slow start," head coach Greg Reitz said afterwards.  "We showed a lot of heart in battling, but now we have to focus on continued improvement to give ourselves a chance in the tournament."
 
An early 6-0 run by the Racers put the hosts in front for good in the opening set.  Northwestern Ohio hit .353 in the stanza on the way to the win.  In set two, Lourdes led 14-12 before the Racers went on a 7-1 run to pull in front on the way to building the 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Lourdes trailed 13-11 in the third set before beginning its comeback.  Seven straight points off the serve of Allie Hale (Holland, Ohio/Springfield H.S.) pushed the Gray Wolves in front and allowed the visitors to extend the match.
 
Northwestern Ohio led set four 17-16 before another Lourdes comeback.  The Gray Wolves scored nine of the final 11 points to force the decisive fifth set. 
 
In the finale, there were 13 ties with neither team leading by more than two in the entire set.  A kill by Emily Drenth (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South H.S.) followed by a Kylee McBride (Peoria, Ariz./Mountain Ridge H.S.) service ace completed the comeback for the Gray Wolves and closed out the match.
 
Michaela Eisenhauer (Castalia, Ohio/Margaretta H.S.) led Lourdes with 12 kills while swinging at a .320 clip.  McBride added 11 kills, four service aces, and a match-high 17 digs.  Sarah Wisser (Schoolcraft, Mich./Schoolcraft H.S.) handed out 28 assists for an offense that finished the match hitting .160.
 
Defensively, Hale tallied 14 digs, Drenth added 12 more, and Alli Plasencio (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) contributed 10 digs.  Eisenhauer registered seven blocks.
 
Erika Angstmann led Northwestern Ohio (23-11, 13-7 WHAC) with 21 kills and 14 digs.
 
Lourdes (13-15, 10-10) will return to action on Wednesday evening in the quarterfinals of the WHAC tournament.  Official tournament pairings will be released by the league office later this weekend.